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A new community restaurant is opening on Monday and the general public is invited to partake in the festivities.

Kula Café will offer food at low prices [including pork sliders, pictured at right] and serve as a training ground for unemployed and underemployed adults. The participants will learn how to work in the restaurant industry, and the program seeks to place graduates in jobs that will sustain them financially after they graduate.

Participants receive four weeks of life and employment skills training; eight weeks of hands-on training in the Kula Café; and a final four weeks of paid placement in a partnering restaurant where participants can demonstrate the skills they have learned in the program.

All profits from the Kula Café’s meals go back into the training program, so each meal served helps fund future participants in the program while simultaneously helping the current participants learn and master their skills.

The café will also celebrate this afternoon with a ribbon cutting from 3 to 5 p.m.

The café will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and will offer takeout service and catering on- and off-site shortly after it opens.

For more information, contact Heather Schulze or Wendolyn Escobedo at 732-455-0514. Kula Café is located at 1201 Springwood Ave. inside the Springwood Center. Interfaith Neighbors and Marilyn Schlossbach worked together to bring Kula Café to fruition.

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