10 Million Meals Served: Latest from WCK’s COVID-19 Response
It’s been 70 days since WCK’s COVID-19 response began across America and expanded into Spain. Since then, we have served over 10 million fresh meals to students, families in need, seniors and frontline healthcare heroes. It’s a sobering reminder of the impact the coronavirus is having on our communities. With more than 40 million Americans out of work, the need for food will only increase in the weeks ahead. We are grateful for your support that is enabling WCK to serve 300,000 meals every day, and also help over 1,600 restaurants keep their lights on and serve their neighbors in need.
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WCK’s Relief Team set up a new distribution site this week in Langley Park, Maryland. Not too far outside Washington, DC, Langley Park has one of the highest concentrations of COVID-19 cases in the country. The neighborhood has also been devastated by the economic impacts of shelter-in-place orders; many residents are currently out of work. On Thursday, nearly twice the number of families we expected arrived to receive WCK meals, pizza pies from &pizza, and boxes of USDA produce. In order to make sure no one went home empty-handed, our kitchen at Nationals Park sent more than a thousand extra meals!
While at Langley Park, we met Marta, the matriarch of a household with two kids and three grandchildren. She lost her job as a house cleaner as a result of COVID-19, so despite having a chronic lung illness, she came out to bring food back for her family. She was in amazing spirits and all smiles the entire time, inspiring everyone she encountered.
This past weekend, WCK teamed up with Pau Gasol and the Gasol Foundation to provide meals and hand out other necessary supplies to families in Los Angeles. Utilizing a drive-through system at The Forum, we served 4,000 fresh meals, all prepared by local food businesses. In addition to serving plates of nutritious food, we handed out thousands of JanSport backpacks for students and diapers for families.
This week, WCK began relief efforts with the Lumbee Tribe in Pembroke, North Carolina. Working alongside the Robeson County Health Department and CORE, they have established two drive-through COVID-19 testing sites for the community. WCK has partnered with Fullers BBQ, a local eatery, to cook delicious BBQ sandwiches and sides of vegetables for people coming to get tested – as well as for staff operating the sites.
WCK’s Relief Team in the Bay Area continues to grow our Restaurants For The People program. In San Francisco, we are partnering with 26 restaurants, including Zuni Cafe, one of the city’s most iconic spots and a pioneer of the California food movement. Working with the Human Rights Commission to identify the San Franciscans who are most impacted, WCK’s partner restaurants prepare thousands of meals each day to meet these needs.
We’re also partnering with Gibsons, a Chicago restaurant group, to keep their staff working and their neighbors fed. When José stopped by to help this week, Chef Andy and his team had cooked up a delicious house-made fusilli pasta with tomato sugo & chicken parmesan! WCK’s Relief Team delivered these dishes to local senior communities and veterans.
In New York, we have teamed up with Peaches HotHouse, a beloved community hangout in the Fort Greene/Bed-Stuy area of Brooklyn serving hot fried chicken and other comfort foods. Now with WCK, they’re preparing dishes like this tender chicken with kale salad and a chickpea stew covered in tahini and Peaches hot sauce! These plates were delivered to a neighboring public housing unit that has been without cooking gas for more than four weeks.
