Rolling Into Opportunity: MVESC Food Truck Set to Cook Up Job Skills

ZANESVILLE, OH – A new opportunity is rolling into town bringing job training and community connection along with it.

The Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center (MVESC) has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the J.W. & M.H. Straker Charitable Foundation to purchase and operate a food truck for the MVESC Adult Success Program.

The food truck will be operated by students in the Success Program, which focuses on helping students gain real-world job experience, improve social skills, and develop greater independence.

“We have an Adult Success Program here at the ESC, which serves students ages 18 to 22 who defer graduation. They have a coffee cart on the first floor here at the ESC,” said Kate Kimble MVESC Student Services Director. “They also go out to different work sites to work on job skills, social skills, and employability skills. We had the idea that it might be really cool to have a food truck go out into the community.”

The food truck will allow students to gain hands-on experience in food preparation, customer service, and financial management—skills that can help them transition into the workforce with confidence.

Steve Foreman grants administrator at MVESC added, “I think one of the things this program provides is an employability skill. For instance, if students chose to work at a fast-food restaurant, they would gain experience with serving, handling money, interacting with customers, and working on soft skills. These are all very important employability skills they’ll learn.”

While the food truck is not yet up and running, organizers say the funding from the Straker Foundation is a major step toward making this vision a reality. As plans develop, the MVESC will be working to finalize details on the truck’s menu, schedule, and locations.