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Vanessa Ormsby,

RCA Communications Manager                 

(361) 729-5519 / vanessa@rockportartcenter.com

AEP Foundation Awards $100,000 To Improve Culinary Arts Facility at Rockport Center for the Arts
Updated kitchen and new equipment will continue to be the home of Center’s Young Chefs: Where Food Science Meets the Culinary Arts program that promotes healthy food choices through education

Rockport, TX., July 20, 2023 – The Rockport Center for the Arts announced today it received a $100,000 grant from the American Electric Power Foundation (AEP Foundation) to improve its culinary arts kitchen and purchase new equipment. The updated kitchen will remain the home of free nutritional education and programming through its Young Chefs: Where Food Science Meets the Culinary Arts program.

The AEP Foundation approved the $100,000 grant upon the recommendation of AEP Texas.

“Serving the youth of Aransas County is at the very top of our mission. We are grateful for the generous gift from the American Electric Power Foundation, that has made culinary arts programming, that we imagined when the building was being built, a reality,” Luis Purón, Executive Director, Rockport Center for the Arts, said. “The AEP Foundation Culinary Arts Kitchen plays host to Young Chefs, serving the children of Rockport from underprivileged socio-economic backgrounds. This Summer we also hosted the Young Chefs Summer Camp. Having a fully equipped state of the art kitchen has made these programs possible.”

Young Chefs: Where Food Science Meets the Culinary Arts is a free culinary arts program that empowers local, disadvantaged youth and their families to make healthy food choices through hands-on, nutritional instruction with fresh, locally sourced, economical ingredients. Subjects covered include food science, healthy eating, food in culture, and the culinary arts.

Updating the facility to host Young Chefs: Where Food Science Meets the Culinary Arts aligns with the AEP Foundation’s core giving guidelines of helping to provide basic human services in the areas of hunger to assure that people have the necessities to build successful lives; and enriching the overall vitality of the community to improve the environment and people’s lives.

About The American Electric Power Foundation

The American Electric Power Foundation is funded by American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) and its operating subsidiaries. The Foundation provides a permanent, ongoing resource for charitable initiatives involving higher dollar values and multi-year commitments in the communities served by AEP and initiatives outside of AEP’s 11- state service area. The Foundation focuses on improving lives through education from early childhood through higher education in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math; by meeting basic needs for emergency shelter, affordable housing, and the elimination of hunger; and championing social justice. Other Foundation support may be offered to protect the environment, promote healthcare and safety, and enrich life through art, music, and cultural heritage.

About AEP Texas
AEP Texas serves over one million electric meters in the deregulated Texas retail electric marketplace. As an energy delivery (wires) company, AEP Texas delivers electricity safely and reliably to homes, businesses, and industry across its nearly 100,000 square mile service territory in south and west Texas. AEP Texas also builds new power lines, restores service following outages, and reads the meters via advanced meter technology for retail electric providers (REPs) throughout its service territory. The company also connects or disconnects service upon the orders of the REPs. Connect with AEP Texas at AEPTexas.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter @aeptexas.

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