HFTP Helps at the 2018 Annual Convention will direct its fundraising towards the HFTP Scholarship fund in support of hospitality education as part of its ongoing charitable efforts. Traditionally, the HFTP Helps program also supports a local charity in the Annual Convention’s host city.
To follow tradition, the money raised at this year’s event in Louisville, Kentucky for the HFTP Scholarship will be directed to area hospitality, finance and technology centered education programs overseen by NAF. The organization is a national network of education, business and community leaders who work together to ensure high school students are college, career and future ready.
From its very beginning, HFTP and its chapters have actively provided for students working toward a career in hospitality and supporting the next generation of hospitality professionals.
Funding from the “HFTP Helps” initiative will enable NAF to:
• Pilot and scale innovations that amplify work-based learning opportunities, including: Future Ready Labs, Industry Hotspots and technology solutions that will enable NAF to offer virtual learning options and track academy strengths and student outcomes.
• Develop a policy agenda and public awareness campaign spotlighting the importance of public/private partnerships in education and engaging many more employers in work-based learning.
• Service a growing network of career academies, with program staff available onsite when necessary to train teachers and administrators, and ensure educational environments are fostered with high fidelity to NAF’s design.
Attend a Special Thursday Night Social Event at the Kentucky Derby Museum
Experience a piece of Louisville history and contribute to HFTP Helps by attending a Thursday night social event hosted by one of HFTP’s newest chapters based in the host city, the Greater Louisville chapter.
The event takes place on October 25, 2018 from 6:00–10:00 p.m. at the Kentucky Derby Museum. It will include food and cocktails, a live DJ, tours of Churchill Downs Racetrack, and storytelling about Halloween haunts and tales of lore that will send a chill down your spine.
Tickets are now available for a $50 donation per person, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the 2018 HFTP Helps fundraiser. Visit the link below and click on the “Instabuy” option to secure your event tickets.
Silent Auction: Donations Needed
In conjunction with the HFTP Friday Gala, HFTP Helps will hold a silent auction in support of the HFTP Scholarship fund to be directed to area NAF chapters.
HFTP is currently seeking item donations for the HFTP Helps Silent Auction.
About NAF
NAF works with high need communities to transform the high school experience through a proven educational design that includes industry-specific curricula, work-based learning experiences, and relationships with business professionals, culminating in a paid internship.
NAF academies focus on one of five career themes: hospitality and tourism, finance, information technology, engineering, and health sciences. NAF’s Academy of Hospitality & Tourism helps students chart career paths in one of the world’s largest industries — from hotel and event management to sports and entertainment — and includes the study of geography, economics, and world cultures.
Check out these amazing success stories from NAF students.
NAF Academies in Kentucky, USA
NAF has four career academies in Kentucky and one nearby in Sellersburg, Indiana. Collectively, NAF serves 522 students in the Kentucky/Indiana area. The following academies in the Kentucky/Indiana area are aligned with the themes of hospitality, finance and technology:
- Silver Creek High School (AOF)
- Bryan Station (AOIT)
- Gateway Academy to Innovation & Technology (AOE, AOHS, AOHT)
HFTP Greater Louisville chapter president and controller at VENZA Joshua Bergen, CHAE, CHTP has been very involved with NAF and was instrumental in coordinating the partnership with HFTP Helps.
Bergen serves on the committee for the local NAF academy at Silver Creek and speaks to the classroom about his own personal and professional experiences in the hospitality industry.
Bergen shares, “NAF brings solutions to the source — where opportunities for a better world should begin. NAF takes it to the school system, and often to the schools that have the least and need the most. They have created structure, caring and passion, and are always improving the programs and adding more.
‘Students need a purpose, a goal, a supporting hand, and more tools and resources so that they can be better — and contribute at a level where they can be successful and in turn help others.”
Briana Gilmore 
is the HFTP communications coordinator.
Briana can be reached at Briana.Gilmore@hftp.org or +1 (512) 220-4017.
