A reference for Thomas Woodruff wrote: “In Texarkana it is hard to find vegan food and TJ saw the need and started a vegan business from the ground up. I first noticed the advertisements for TXK Vegan on Facebook and had no idea a 17-year-old was the mastermind behind the dishes. The professionalism was outstanding, the food looked great, and it was evident that the chef had done extensive research on a vegan lifestyle. I placed my first order and was shocked that a 17-year-old had not only created the menu, but shopped, prepped, and cooked the delicious dishes by himself … He has shown an ability to run a kitchen and establish a successful business in a small town. This includes procuring on demand vegan items he travels out of town to obtain…”

Thomas wrote: “I promoted veganism in my community Texarkana, a small town in Texas by starting my own pop-up vegan business. The success of my business was feeding people in my city the first vegan option in town (where) most of the customers are meat-eaters … I sell out at every event and the demand keeps growing.”

“During this Pandemic, I have started a vegan grocery delivery service to locals. Customers go to txkvegan.com, select the products they want, pay, select a delivery day, and I leave the products at their door so they don’t even have to leave their house for vegan food. I’m also working on being able to ship my cashew queso so people will be able to get it nationwide. Before the pandemic started I was working at a French restaurant I got laid off at and during my time off the chef told me to design a vegan brunch menu to be added when everything is back to normal.”

“In the future, I would love to own a vegan restaurant and I want to bring a product to market so people everywhere can get it at their local grocery store. Five years after graduating with a degree in entrepreneurship I would love to move back to Texarkana and open a food truck.”

To see the amazing dishes offered by TJ, go to https://www.facebook.com/txkvegan/

To see other scholarship winners, go to https://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

We had 280 incredible applicants this year. We wish we could give awards to all of them. The deadline for applications for the 2021 high school senior awards is February 20, 2021. See:
https://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group scholarships and internships, donate at www.vrg.org/donate