Relief Team delivers door-to-door to Kentuckians impacted by flooding
In late July, eastern Kentucky was devastated by catastrophic flooding that killed at least 38 people. The damage is profound and was partly due to the area’s vulnerable geographical landscape. Many homes are located in hollers—or narrow valleys cut by streams—where the surrounding terrain is steep, allowing water to rush in quickly. And instead of water being absorbed by trees, altered vegetation from years of mining has led to excess water run off, enabling dangerous flash floods. The result has been washed away homes and cars, impassable roads and bridges, and many families left isolated.
Arriving shortly after the heavy rains, WCK’s Relief Team spread out across the impacted areas to begin supporting families in need with fresh meals, sandwiches, and water. Hazard, Kentucky has become our main hub where we began cooking inside a school kitchen. To scale up our efforts and work around power outages, we set up an outdoor space to prepare meals in our Relief Truck and with a signature WCK paella pan. Alongside the community, we served up local favorites like soup beans with cornbread and chicken and dumplings.
Helping us stay true to the regional flavors, WCK Chef Corps member Travis Milton who is most known for championing Appalachian cuisine and the diverse people behind it, came by to volunteer in our kitchen. Traveling from Bristol, Virginia where he is a chef at Hickory, Travis said the drive in was emotional because it traced the counties where he grew up. WCK’s Chef Corps is a global network of culinary leaders who support our relief work in myriad ways.
Seeing the sheer enormity of the task we were taking on with just a few chefs, some lunch ladies from the school, and local volunteers helping out, and the compassion amongst each other and for each other, was just beautiful.
Chef Travis Milton
WCK Chef Corps member
Working both in our food truck and in our school kitchen, sous chef Kate Dozier drove in from St. Louis, bringing with her an energy that was greatly appreciated by the team. Taking on the preparation of 2,500 portions of dumplings, she says, “We’re hoping we can please people with our homemade dumplings! Our version of the dish has lots of vegetables, lots of protein, so it’s nutrient-packed. Especially if this is the only meal someone receives as they’re cleaning up, they can be full for most of the day.”
Once meals are prepared and packaged, we transport them to distribution sites, hospitals, and door-to-door to families cut off from support. In Isom, Kentucky, the Relief Team also provided families without power with Luci Inflatable Lights. Kentucky Wildlife assisted us with deliveries and located new areas of need. At distribution locations, many people who are able to come pick up food, took extra plates to bring back to their neighbors.
Communities are widely dispersed, some in hollers that have been left isolated, so with 4×4 vehicles, ATVs, and side-by-sides, our Relief Team is bringing fresh food directly to people’s homes.
For Patrick, WCK’s chili proved to be the perfect meal. He homesteads and was excited to pair the dish with the hen’s eggs! Previously, he worked as a miner for 17 years before developing black lung.
While in Robinson, the team met Rod. During the flood, he escaped his house—only grabbing his life-saving medication on the way out. The waters pushed him into the thick trees and he was stuck there until morning. He remembers hearing loud sounds coming from the water, realizing it was the electric cable lines mixing with the river below him. His home is ruined, he has scratches throughout his body, and broke his collarbone, but Rod is thankful for solid walls and being alive.
As a sweet treat, our peach delivery was much appreciated given the hot days of clean up. Danny, pictured left, loved the peaches. Noah, pictured right, was eager to cut his fruit with his toy sword. Having been through the unimaginable, spirits remained high in Kentucky. “His name’s Noah, but where’s our ark?”, joked Noah’s dad in reference to the flood.
Allan and Jerry were playing music before we made our way over with food. “Just trying to boost morale! Hats off to the chefs!”
In total, WCK has provided fresh plates of food across five counties—not just with WCK meals but also by supporting local groups.
Connie, Carla, and Tina are cooks at the Buckhorn School K-12. Since the beginning of the month, they have helped us serve 400 daily meals out of the school food truck in the heart of the city.
There has been an outpouring of community support, and now that the urgent needs have subsided, WCK is winding down our efforts. Although we’re stopping hot meals, we will continue to provide sandwiches. With the LEE Initiative, we are organizing and distributing local produce boxes for 500 households. Visiting the hard-hit city of Whitesburg, WCK’s Chef Mollie also assisted the community kitchen’s head chef, passing on information about WCK operating procedures and protocols for large-scale cooking.
The recent floods were some of the worst that Central Appalachia has seen, and with more extreme weather patterns, there are concerns that the area will continue to see more frequent and severe flooding. From July 26 through the 29, the region saw rainfall that is historically unheard of. In the weeks following this initial flooding, there has been more rain, flood watches, and threats of thunderstorms. The landscape and remote holler communities add to an already vulnerable region where many do not have the means to move or protect their homes from high waters.
WCK will continue to monitor the situation and assist as we are able to. We thank the community for welcoming us and sharing the Kentucky way of cooking with our team. Together, we served over 75,000 comforting plates of food. For the latest on WCK’s efforts around the world, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
When we’re cleaning, we don’t think about eating, and these hot meals are so satisfying – it makes you think about the people who prepared it. The people who remember that we are out here.
Bradley
Robinson, Kentucky
