ORLANDO, Fla. — A Central Florida nonprofit is helping to fill the growing number of job openings in the hospitality industry across the state.

“Culinary at this present time is the field to be in, Florida is fast, fast picking up, and more and more people are traveling,” Idalia Nunez, the Second Harvest Food Bank program manager, said. “It’s an exciting time for our program.”

The nonprofit helped Elvin Santiago find a new career.

Last year, Santiago was a hotel banquet manager in Puerto Rico who was planning to move closer to his family.

“I came following my son’s situation, he’s attending UCF and has special needs,” Santiago said.

When he arrived, the global coronavirus pandemic began.

“I was trying to find a job right here in Orlando when I got caught between the pandemic and the lockdown,” Santiago said.

After more than nine months of searching for a job, he went to a job fair that led him to Second Harvest Food Bank to take part in the nonprofit’s culinary training program, which prepares its students to become professional cooks for free.

“I said to myself, ‘Now is the time to do it because I have the time to do it,’” Santiago said. “It’s something I wanted to do for a long time.”

He will graduate in June at a time when the hospitality and tourism businesses desperately need workers.

In fact, the American Hotel and Lodging Association reports hotels will add 200,000 direct hotel operation jobs this year, 500,000 less of pre-pandemic employment level of 2.3 million. 

“We’re seeing a real increase in the amount of pay and the amount of benefits,” Nunez said. “We’re also making sure when our graduates leave us, they leave us for quality jobs, so, we’re all about placing people in places where they get benefits, where they’re getting a stable schedule, they’re getting the 40 hours, and they have the opportunity for growth.”

Santiago said he hopes he can find a job to showcase his cooking and management skills.

The program will begin again on May 17. Nunez said there are still spots open.