6,500,000 Meals: #ChefsForAmerica Week 8 Update
Since our first day serving fresh meals to children experiencing school closures in Little Rock to now 225 cities across America, WCK has delivered more than 6.5 million fresh meals including 1 million meals from restaurants we’ve helped get back to work. As we celebrate Mother’s Day, unemployment in the US has reached 15% – the highest it has been since the Great Depression – so it is critical that families everywhere receive the emergency help they need.
This week, José and WCK’s Fiona were in Virginia Beach, where WCK has been serving 5,000 meals each week prepared by small, independent restaurants in the community. One delivery José and Fiona made was to a mobile home park whose residents include many restaurant workers. A large percentage of these families are out of work, so having access to fresh meals is helping them get through this crisis.
https://twitter.com/WCKitchen/status/1258899319014506496
Meet Tia Henry, owner of Cafe Dauphine in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward! Tia and her husband love giving back to their community, so they are thankful that the meals they’re preparing go to nearby Greater Liberty Baptist Church to be shared with neighbors around the ward. After the stay-at-home order shut them down in mid-March, Cafe’ Dauphine reopened this week to serve meals with WCK. Across New Orleans, WCK is serving more than 55,000 meals weekly. Local restaurants getting back to work are now preparing meals for the Lower 9th Ward, the LGBTQ community in the French Quarter, and other vulnerable populations around the city.
Beyond our operations in cities throughout the country, José and WCK have been working in Washington, D.C. to share our model – putting restaurants back to business to feed people in need – with Congress and other government officials. José, alongside a bipartisan group of Senators and Congresspeople, announced the FEMA Empowering Essential Deliveries (FEED) Act, which would allow states to fully rely on federal funding to enact a similar model to feed their own communities. We will continue to share updates about the progress of the FEED Act.
In addition to serving 40,000 meals daily with the LA Unified School District, WCK has begun providing more than 8,000 nourishing meals daily to people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County. Our partner agencies and community-based organizations, who are now delivering fresh meals directly to those in need, tell us about the power of food as a tool to help create a trusting relationship, and a deep connection, between themselves and those they are serving.
WCK has been working in Seattle, Washington, identifying the most vulnerable communities in need of fresh food. The Low Income Housing Institute’s Tiny Home Villages provide those experiencing homelessness in Seattle with a safe, warm place to stay. Daily meals from WCK, prepared by a local restaurant, now ensure residents do not have to leave the community, keeping everyone and their families safe.
WCK continues to serve nutritious meals across the country to seniors, children out of school, and other at-risk populations. In Detroit we are working alongside National Action Network and the Historic King Solomon Church to distribute 40,000 nourishing meals each week. In Columbus, Ohio, we are partnering with local catering companies to prepare favorites like chicken pot pie for shelters in the area.
WCK’s COVID-19 response is the largest effort our team has ever undertaken. We are currently serving 300,000 meals every day across America and in Spain, and this is only possible because of incredible partners, local community heroes serving their neighbors, and all of your support. For this, we want to say thank you!
