Thursday March 21, 2019
Dear Friends, Supporters and Students,
I am excited to send you our first newsletter as Chairman of the Board with a number of exciting updates from ECF. There are many worthy causes out there, but I chose to support ECF and our outstanding students to further our hospitality industry and impact the lives of these wonderful young women and men. As Chairman, I hope to pick up where our incredible executive board has left off and move the needle forward providing more scholarships and just as important mentoring opportunities for the next wave of high school seniors.
I’d like to welcome our new Executive Board: Sean DiCicco, returning as ECF President, Michael Kennedy, Director of Restaurants for South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa has agreed to return to the executive team as Vice President, Karla Perez, Vice President National Accounts-Gaming for Sysco Corporation as ECF Vice President, Martha Morales, General Manager of Nobu Las Vegas as ECF Secretary, and Robert Chiti, Director of Hotel & Guest Relations for TAO Group Las Vegas as ECF Treasurer.
The new year has already provided the foundation with another great event. Our Mentorship Matters VIP Appreciation Dinner was held on January 23rd at Bally’s Las Vegas. The evening was a wonderful way for us to show our appreciation to the donors, sponsors, supporters and students who made M.E.N.U.S. 2018 a huge success and pay homage to Don and Lorie Forman, United Nissan. The evening included an award presentation to 2018’s top sponsors, including Hard Rock Hotel, Brady Linen, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, BreakThru Beverage of Nevada, E&J Gallo, FIJI Water, Johnson Brothers of Nevada, Nevada Beverage, and Sysco.
Our 4th Annual ECF Golf Tournament invites you to “swing for scholarships” at Red Rock Country Club’s Private Mountain Course on Monday, May 6th. This year is SOLD OUT. More information is shared below!
As always, the success of our students and graduates would not be possible without your continued support. Through donations, participation in M.E.N.U.S. and other fundraising events we are able to change the lives of young people in our community and positively impact one of the city’s most prominent industries. More information, news and updates may be found at www.ecflv.org or following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @EpicureanLV.
All the best,
Kevin Ball
Chairman of the Board for ECF
WELCOME TO OUR 2019-20 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Sean DiCicco
ECF President of the Board 2019-20
Michael Kennedy
ECF Vice President
Director of Restaurants for South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa
Karla Perez
ECF Vice President
Vice President National Accounts-Gaming for Sysco Corporation
Martha Morales
ECF Secretary
General Manager of Nobu Las Vegas
Robert Chiti
ECF Treasurer
Director of Hotel & Guest Relations for TAO Group Las Vegas
MENTORSHIP MATTERS
Claudia Soler – Graduate Speaker
Claudia Soler is an ECF Graduate and UNLV Class of ’14. Claudia migrated from Cuba at the age of 11, Graduated from UNLV Hospitality School in 2014, and was the first American to complete an internship at Ritz Carlton Abama in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Claudia was ECF’s Avero Scholarship Recipient in 2013. She began her hospitality career alongside her first mentor, Simon Fricker at Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas. Claudia visited 44 states while working for Deloitte as a traveling consultant. Most recently, she worked with her last mentor, Kelley Jones as his Project Director/Social Media Manager, and is now managing her first team as an Office Manager – Housekeeping at Venetian/Palazzo Hotel and Casino.
A complete collection of Mentorship Matters photos may be found here!
4th ANNUAL ECF GOLF TOURNAMENT
This year’s event is SOLD OUT- For more information sponsorship opportunities or to donate an item to the raffle, please contact melissa@ecflv.org.
STUDENT AND GRADUATE UPDATES
Congratulations Anna Tymoshevska, Group Hotel Services Ambassador, on being awarded the Key to Venice for Splunk FY20 SKO!
Ashley Hassler is Member Development Vice President of Alpha Xi Delta
Rocio Vasquez is now a Front Office Agent at Venetian
Sol Gonzales is a Gear Up tutor for her alma mater Valley High School
Jasmine Ramos won an internship for Venetian/Palazzo in the F&B Department starting this June
Monica Corral is working at Cipriani at the Wynn as a hostess/cashier
Meagan Taylor is now a UNLV tour guide and has also been invited to an award ceremony at UNLV for her impressive grades
For more information, please contact Melissa Arias at 702.932.5098, melissa@ecflv.org or visit the ECF website at www.ecflv.org.
