The Franciscan Center, a Baltimore-based Catholic nonprofit ministry, collaborated recently with the B&O Railroad Museum to open the B&O Café.
The center and the museum held a ribbon-cutting ceremony March 21 for the grand opening of the new café, situated on the B&O Railroad Museum campus at 901 W. Pratt St. in Baltimore.
The café, open 10 a.m.-4 p.m., offers a lunch menu consisting of grilled burgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken wings, deli sandwiches, salads, soups and child-friendly items. A variety of desserts, snacks and drinks are also available.
Chefs operating, managing and working at the B&O Café are graduates and/or students of the Franciscan Center Dignity Plates Culinary Training Academy. All proceeds will be used to enhance the center’s Training Academy, a free 13-week culinary skills program.
Representatives from the Mayor’s Office, City Council, Franciscan Center, B&O Railroad Museum and Restaurant Association of Maryland attended the opening ceremony.
The café offers indoor and outdoor seating.
The mission of the Franciscan Center is to provide emergency assistance and supportive outreach to people who are impoverished. The organization offers care that includes food, clothing, emergency health services, counseling and technology training to help clients become self-sufficient.
The center’s Culinary Services offer a pantry program and a hot lunch program, which feeds roughly 400-600 people daily at its West 23rd Street location and local homeless encampments. The Franciscan Center serves 99 percent of food made from scratch.
The Franciscan Center is undergoing its first major renovation in 25 years and has launched a capital campaign to help fund the changes. The center will offer a warm indoor dining room, client-choice pantry, training kitchen for students in the culinary academy, computer lab and education center, clothing intake room and a new Mace Street entrance.
The B&O Railroad Museum, the birthplace of American railroading, is a full affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, and a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Site. It is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American railroading and its impact on American society, culture and economy.
To learn more about the Franciscan Center’s services, visit fcbmore.org.
For information on the B&O Railroad Museum, visit borail.org.
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