25 million meals & A message from José
My friends,
In February, WCK got a call: a cruise ship was coming into port in Yokohama, Japan, with a large number of cases of a new, relatively unknown disease. Our team used its emergency feeding expertise to provide meals for passengers and crew aboard this ship – and then returned to the US to begin preparing for a much larger response.
Safety measures and restaurant closures hit fast, followed by millions of people losing their jobs. WCK’s team immediately jumped into action, safely serving individually packed fresh meals for the country’s most vulnerable. In New York City—the initial epicenter in the United States—we set a plan into motion to feed both families no longer receiving paychecks and hospital staff battling the virus. Our efforts grew quickly.
I’m proud to announce that in partnership with thousands of restaurants & volunteers, WCK has served 25 million meals since the start of the pandemic. From NY to Little Rock, Oakland to Navajo Nation – we’ve been fighting hunger from the frontlines. In the process, we have kept hundreds of restaurants from going out of business and thousands of Americans employed to cook for their communities.
But it is not enough: this crisis is too big, and it is lasting too long. We cannot solve the hunger crisis with philanthropy alone. Today, across America there are long lines of people waiting for hours in the summer heat to fulfill some of the most basic human needs: to feed themselves and their family.
I need your help. Please watch my video above and share. Go to act.wck.org and contact your elected officials – write Congress a letter, call, tweet with the hashtag #FeedThePeople. And join me in this pledge: Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people may eat, WE will be there.
– José Andrés
COVID-19 created not only a public health crisis, but economic and humanitarian crises as well. Through our Restaurants for the People program, WCK’s Relief Team tackled these crises on two fronts – providing fresh, nourishing meals for families in need while also keeping small restaurants and food businesses open. This program, which to date has brought more than 10 million restaurant meals to communities around the country and put $90 million into small independent restaurants, presents a powerful win-win solution. Not only do families affected by the three concurrent crises get access to restaurant-quality meals, but the restaurant industry – ravaged by continued shutdowns – can keep cooking. Restaurants are able to keep their lights on, hire back employees, and purchase from local farms and producers with significant positive consequences for the local and national economy.
Feeding thousands of people every day begins in the kitchen with ingredients and a recipe. In Oakland, California, we have partnered with more than 125 local restaurants to serve 80,000 meals each week. Follow our Relief Team for a visit to two of these restaurants —Sobo Ramen and Cam Anh—before we distributed meals at the Asian Resource Center. Read more>>
WCK’s relief efforts across the country and world would not be possible without the help of thousands of local team members, and our #ChefsForAmerica response has been no different. From New York to California, these individuals who help us pack food, drive, deliver, and everything in between are the heartbeat of World Central Kitchen. Read the stories of a few of these heroes in New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation here.
“If it wasn’t for World Central Kitchen, I would never have been able to sustain my restaurant. In mid-March, I had to close my doors. I tried to do delivery only, but the overhead was more than the income. Once I heard about World Central Kitchen, I got excited. I started creating menus and researching ways to make food by the masses. I know, they say you shouldn’t make plans with money you don’t have, but I couldn’t help myself. It was a blessing when we got the approval, and now we’re at our 13th week. Without World Central Kitchen, there would not be a Mott Haven”
See more from Rosa, owner of Mott Haven in The Bronx here.
After WCK has led an emergency food relief response, our Resilience Team evaluates the food ecosystem and will make long-term commitments of support when we know we can successfully address chronic food system challenges in that area. Along those lines, Plow to Plate was established in 2018 in Puerto Rico when WCK relief kitchens shuttered after serving nearly 4 million meals following Hurricane Maria. The goal: to address the high rate of food insecurity on the island. Now, the program has expanded to both The Bahamas and the US Virgin Islands. Check it out here!
WCK continues to provide nearly 100,000 meals to communities across the country every day – but the private donations that fund our work are simply not enough to meet the ever-growing need. As cases spike around the country, and restaurants struggle to stay alive, WCK’s Restaurants for the People model continues to provide a vital lifeline. We are working urgently to show state and national leaders that this model has been proven across America, and that we need immediate support to help fight this hunger crisis.
