Anne Arundel Community College just gave three students thousands of dollars for food trucks and beer — as part of their mission to save the world.
This year’s winners of the school’s yearly Big Idea Competition, which asks students to solve a problem or create a convenience with a creative idea, plan to support veterans, the LGBTQ community and families in need.
Thank you for your service
Jordan Foley, a 33-year-old Naval Academy and Massachusetts Institute of Technology grad, won first prize and the Community Idea award for his non-profit, Chow.
As a submarine officer, Foley said connecting with people became hard in the six years he was constantly moving around the country.
“I wanted something I could be passionate about that could move with me,” he said.
When he moved back to Annapolis with his wife and two daughters, Foley said he found his love for cooking and realized it was a shared passion in the military.
In January, Chow got its non-profit status and began training veterans to cook for homeless people each month at a kitchen in Cheverly. Foley began savings for a food truck he says will be run by veterans who will serve a rotating menu.
But the coronavirus pandemic made him pump the breaks. A big event that was going to be Chow’s premiere was canceled in March and he’s had to take more time to make sure his staff is safe.
“Being part of the non-profit and culinary industry, we got hit twice as hard by COVID,” Foley said.
But he’s still hopeful, noting his food service for homeless people never stopped and Chow donated more than $30,000 worth of equipment to veterans starting bakeries during COVID.
He plans to have a truck on the road by 2021 and said the $1,250 prize money will get him closer to that goal.
Visit LetsChow.org or email info@letschow.org to get involved or donate.
A new LGBTQ brew
Coronavirus was the birth of Andrew Parr’s Big Idea.
The former Annapolis High School teacher said he saw people sneaking sips while walking around downtown and realized he could solve two problems at once: give people a place to drink and stimulate the economy.
Small breweries have opened around Maryland and elsewhere in Anne Arundel County, but Annapolis has just one. Parr hopes to change that and make Annapolis a beer tourism hotspot.
Nano-brewery Forward Brewing opened for carryout in May as the first brewer to operate in Annapolis for several years. Rams Head, which opened a brewery on West Street in the late 20th century, moved its operations to Delaware several years ago.
Parr is putting the $750 he earned for second place and the Fan Favorite prize toward his master brewer certification. Once that’s complete, he plans to open a beer garden and an LGBTQ-centered taproom — Annapolis’ first gay bar.
“I am a gay entrepreneur, so it’s important to me to have something that’s inclusive, Parr said.
Annapolis Pride founder Jeremy Browning said he’s excited to see the LGBTQ taphouse come to fruition.
“There are very few queer spaces in the area and this would give LGBTQ+ people from Annapolis to Glen Burnie, Bowie, South County, Eastern Shore, and surrounding areas a safe space to socialize and connect,” Browning said. “If there was ever a doubt whether this is needed, remember the thousands of LGBTQ+ people and families flooded the streets at the Inaugural Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival.”
“People are coming to me and asking about investing, which has really taken me by surprise since I’m just in the planning phase,” Parr said.
His beer gardens would be ideal during the pandemic, Parr said, since they’d be centered on outdoor service.
“Now’s the time if there is any,” he said.
He can be contacted at asparr90@gmail.com
Healthy meals hit the road
Kirk Rookwood, a Columbia minister, has always wanted to start a food truck. But when the pandemic began, his Big Idea became part of his calling.
In the next week or two, Rookwood plans to rev up his big yellow food truck to start serving free healthy meals outside low-income housing.
“Being a minister, I realized there were a lot of families in need,” Rookwood said. “I just don’t believe kids in America should go hungry.”
He plans to serve healthy meals for free along with easy recipes and healthy cooking tips so families can recreate the dishes at home.
Rookwood has partnered with grocery stores that provide him with free produce and is looking to expand his partnerships.
The $250 he won for third place gets him closer to his goal of creating a big, yellow fleet. Kirkwood plans to add at least one food truck to the company each year to service Anne Arundel, Howard, Prince Georges and Baltimore counties.
He also offers healthy cooking classes at racalrx.com.
Rookwood believes equity-based ideas like his, Parr and Foley’s are the future of entrepreneurialism.
“These are the new business models that are going to be more prevalent,” Rookwood said. “entrepreneurship is going to solve the world’s problems.”