Wells Fargo Bank provided an appetizer of sorts for culinary students and their professors with a $15,000 donation presented during the recent Silver Spur celebration at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The donation will be dedicated to the COC Foundation’s ongoing Culinary Arts Capital Campaign to raise funds for the construction of a permanent facility on the Valencia campus to house the college’s Institute for Culinary Arts Education (iCuE).

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At the request of Wells Fargo Bank, this contribution has been designated for use in the design and construction of the facility’s main faculty office suite.

Culinary Arts Capital Campaign committee co-chair Diana Cusumano thanked Wells Fargo Bank for their continuing support of the culinary campaign and College of the Canyons, commenting “this level of commitment shows that Wells Fargo Bank is an outstanding corporate partner.”

About the Culinary Arts Capital Campaign

Having long sought a way to expand the depth and breadth of its culinary arts department, in 2011 the COC Foundation embarked on a capital campaign designed to raise funds for the construction of a state-of-the-art, on-campus culinary facility which would provide a permanent home for the college’s culinary arts department and greatly expand the number of locally available training opportunities in that field.

The end result is envisioned as a 5,600-square-foot building, designed in an architectural style that underlines the simplicity of the reflective glass surfaces found on nearby structures, and provides an elegant sophistication appropriate for a building that will serve educational as well as social functions.

Individual elements of the building’s design include: a demonstration kitchen, a savory kitchen, a sweets kitchen, an area for wine studies, a culinary lab space, herb garden, large dining area and instructor office spaces.

The current estimate for the cost of the new COC Culinary Arts facility is roughly $4.7 million. However, in late 2010 college officials learned that the current Library expansion project was expected to come in nearly $3 million under budget.

That savings has since been applied to the Culinary Arts project — leaving a balance of roughly $1.7 million to be raised.

Community members interested in getting involved with the capital campaign will have the chance to do so through a variety of culinary themed events and activities taking place in the coming months, as well other gift giving and naming opportunities associated with the new facility.

For more information about the COC Institute for Culinary Arts Education (iCuE) or to get involved with the college’s ongoing Culinary Arts Capital Campaign please visit www.canyonsculinaryarts.com or contact Murray Wood, COC Foundation Chief Development Officer, at (661) 362-3433 or murray.wood@canyons.edu.