WCK in Mississippi after winter storm leaves residents without water for weeks
Winter storms that swept across the southern United States in mid-February left millions without power, running water, or both. In Jackson, Mississippi, thousands of residents entered their fifth week without reliable drinking water in their homes. Families for whom water has returned are living under boil advisories. WCK arrived earlier this month to support the community by providing both drinkable water and fresh, hot meals.
Working alongside the city of Jackson, Jackson Public Schools, and other local partners, we’ve served over 16,000 meals and nearly half a million bottles of water—with more on the way. We’re working with 10 restaurants in Jackson to provide lunch and dinner at several pick up locations.
Nick Wallace Culinary is preparing dishes for families, including harissa chicken, fried brown rice, and veggies and cavatappi pasta in an herb tomato sauce with kale and chicken. Nick has been a chef for 20+ years and has his own nonprofit – Creativity Kitchen – working with elementary schools to improve their cafeteria menus and educate kids about nutrition.
WCK’s Derrick dropped off water at Bates Elementary School, to go along with the meals from Nick Wallace Culinary – the kids were very excited to see him! He’s been driving water around town to make sure everyone has as much as they need.
Glenda and her team at Sugar’s Place are cooking up comforting Chicken Tetrazzini for Jackson residents to pick up at Peeples Middle School. Sugar’s Place, which has been open since 2008, is a small family restaurant owned by Glenda and her husband Shelly. Pre-pandemic, they used to have space inside for 30 tables, but have since added a cheerful orange wall and just a few tables outside.
The kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Central Mississippi enjoyed lunch from Sherria’s Chicken Coop – 300 portions of shrimp jambalaya, with a side of broccoli.
Will owns Sherria’s, named for his mom, who taught him everything he knows about cooking. Will’s son, Zi, and brother, Charles, are also part of the family business and know the secret to tasty house-made chicken tenders.
A few hours southwest in Houston, Texas, many families were affected by the same storm. WCK was providing restaurant meals and water to the community, and is now offering produce boxes for families to cook at home. We’re partnering with The Common Market to provide boxes of locally grown produce, supporting 12 Texas producers in the process. The Common Market is based in Philadelphia, but they have three regional hubs around the country (Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Texas) from which they coordinate with local farms to help bring their products to market. We’ve delivered more than 16,900 produce boxes in the last two weeks – that’s 227,264 pounds of produce!
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