The Second Chance That Changed Everything

When Liut Interim, our 2025 graduate, walked into our kitchen for the first time, he was respectful, reserved, and wore a cap.

He sat in our classroom looked around, unsure if he even belonged there. Like many of our students, he had been counted out long before he ever had a chance to prove himself. Opportunities were scarce. Confidence was even scarcer.

But when our chef told the class, “I might be hard on you but this stuff ain't hard. By the time you leave you're going to know your way around my kitchen. This is intense and it's a lot of work but you can do it”

It wasn't warm comfort. There was no way to ease into it. But it was a start.

Day by day, Liu kept showing up. He learned how to hold a knife, how to season with intention, how to move with purpose in a kitchen. But more importantly, he learned how to believe in himself again.

Weeks later, our staff learned he made his own music, he might do the occasional dance move but never with a camera around, and was always helping others and making them laugh. The same person who once questioned if he belonged was now preparing meals that brought people together.

Today, Liu is working at Hopkins Eatery and is about to move into his own place. Stability. Direction. Pride.

And it all started with one opportunity. This is why your support matters.

Every item in this auction, every bid placed, every dollar raised—it all creates more “first days” like Marcus’s.

More chances.
More confidence.
More lives rewritten.

When you participate in this auction, you’re not just winning an item.

You’re helping someone step into a future they never thought was possible.

REfire Culinary: Inner Fire Auction