Penn College hospitality program to provide team food for LLWS

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Le Jeune Chef Restaurant – a live-learning lab for the college’s hospitality majors – is preparing to provide well over 15,000 meals for the teams who will participate in the 2024 Little League Baseball World Series.

“When all 20 teams are dining with us, we prepare for 400 people per meal period – 1,200 people per day total,” explained Chef Mike S. Dinan, the restaurant’s executive chef. “Our total meals for the series will be between 18,000 and 20,000, depending on which teams stay after elimination.”

The crew will begin serving when the first teams arrive – several days before the first game is played on Aug. 14 – and will continue through the end of the series on Aug. 25.

Food is prepped both on campus and in the team dining hall at Little League International, just a few miles from Penn College, by Le Jeune Chef’s full-time staff and its student employees, with help from faculty and culinary and baking & pastry arts classes, which begin Aug. 19.

“We try to involve as many students as possible when we take on this event,” Dinan said. “It is a fantastic way for our students, in both the baking and culinary programs, to see a different side of the food industry in large-scale quantity cooking. They assist us in the restaurant with daily food prep, and they help put the finishing touches on the meals at the Grove (the Creighton J. Hale International Grove, where teams stay).

“I think one of the most rewarding parts of their experience is helping serve all the teams. Getting that personal connection with the coaches and players from across the world is a unique experience that is rarely offered in our industry. The students can also put this experience on their resume, which will help them when seeking employment after graduating.”

This is the fourth year Penn College’s School of Business & Hospitality has supported its neighboring nonprofit by feeding teams, who last year ate 2,500 pancakes, 3,000 pieces of French toast, 1,200 cheeseburgers, 800 hot dogs, 288 pounds of pulled pork, 320 pounds of pasta, and 1,000 pounds of various french fries.

Penn College offers associate degrees and certificates in baking & pastry arts and culinary arts, which can be continued to a bachelor’s degree in applied management. To learn more, call 570-327-4505.

For information about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.