Cultivate Culinary School and Catering Inc.

“All board members and officers receive a copy of the final Form 990 for review prior to its filing. All board members and officers are requested to review and send comments noting approval.”

“The conflict of interest policy is reviewed by the Board of Directors at each annual meeting. To ensure the Corporation operates in a manner consistent with charitable purposes and does not engage in activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status, periodic reviews shall be conducted. If the governing board or committee has reasonable cause to believe a member has failed to disclose actual or possible conflicts of interest, it shall inform the member of the basis for such belief and afford the member an opportunity to explain the alleged failure to disclose. If, after hearing the member's response and after making further investigation as warranted by the circumstances, the governing board or committee determines the member has failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, it shall take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action.”

“Before approving the compensation of the Executive Director, the Board shall determine that the total compensation to be provided to the Executive Director and that it is reasonable in amount in light of the position, responsibility and qualification of the Executive Director for the position held, including the result of an evaluation of the Executive Director's prior performance. At the time of the discussion and decision concerning the individual's compensation, the individual should not be present in the meeting. The Board shall obtain and consider appropriate data concerning comparable compensation paid to similar Executive Director in like circumstances. The process and decision is documented in the board minutes.”

“A copy of the governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are made available to the public upon request for the same period of disclosure as set forth in the IRC Section 6104(d).”

“Cultivate is devoted to reduce hunger and poverty in Northern Indiana, specifically in St. Joseph, Elkhart and Marshall Counties. We accomplish by providing to programs: Food Rescue and Culinary Job Training. Our food rescue operation is modeled after 2nd Helpings in Indianapolis. Cultivate serves as a middleman between large food service businesses which prepare food that is not served and people who are food insecure in our community. Our twist on the 2nd Helpings model is that we distribute the already prepared food in two ways: individual frozen meals (like a frozen Meals on Wheels) and in bulk to local social service agencies who feed the food insecure. We are able to provide as one client calls it, real food, in a convenient easy to store and prepare package that is more nutritious then canned and boxed items. Our current food donors include the University of Notre Dame, Nelson's Catering and BBQ, Century Center, Beacon, St. Joe Hospital, St. Hedwigs, Rise N Roll and others. We not only feed hungry people but help protect our environment from unnecessary food waste which is the largest single component of our Nation's landfills. Our culinary job training program is an 8 week course focused on helping people with barriers to employment find jobs in the food service industry.”