Chefs For The Polls serves 500,000 meals
WCK believes that a fresh meal is more than a plate of food — it’s a sign that someone cares and there’s hope for the future. As millions of Americans across the country came out in historic numbers to make their voices heard, WCK set up near polling locations in 250 cities and towns with nourishing meals, putting hope and community at the center of this election season.
On October 12, the first day of voting in Marietta, Georgia, WCK’s local team saw lines lasting up to 12 hours — so we jumped into action, serving dinner to families waiting near the Cobb County polling location. From there, we activated local restaurants and food trucks across the nation from California to Maine, Michigan to Arizona — and as far north as Fairbanks, Alaska!
Between October 12 and Election Day on November 3, WCK teams from coast to coast served 500,000 meals in 250 cities and towns near more than 735 different polling locations. We worked with 500 restaurants to prepare comforting meals for their neighbors, using the power of food to bring hope to communities. By employing local restaurants and food trucks, we were able to support small businesses still dealing with the economic impacts of the pandemic.
Here are a few stories of places we served and people we met through our Chefs For The Polls initiative this year.
WCK activated in Alaska for the first time in our organization’s history. Local chef Jennifer Jolis, along with Christie Shell and Susan Willsurd with Calypso Farm and Ecology Center, wanted to bring Chefs For The Polls to Fairbanks, a city in the Interior region of the state. At 7am when polls opened on Election Day it was a bone-chilling -22 degrees, but the team wasn’t phased! Bearing hot breakfast burritos, egg sandwiches, and sausage biscuits, they set up near the polling location at the JP Jones Center in snowy Fairbanks. After the burritos were gone, we served lunch and dinner to families coming by.
The WCK team went big in Arizona on Election Day! Serving at a total of 18 locations in Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, and Scottsdale, we had thousands of meals ready for the community—including Arizona desert shrimp sustainably grown in Gila Bend, just southwest of Phoenix. Chef Danielle Leoni of The Breadfruit and Rum Bar, who has been working with WCK in Arizona since COVID hit earlier this year, led our efforts on the ground. She told us, “The people that are suffering the most and are at most risk are the same people that time and time again band together, rise up, and help each other.” She added that “the heart of what we do is creating space for people to come together – WCK is the largest expression of what I do and I am the smallest expression of what it does.”
In Philadelphia, WCK teams activated for early voting and on Election Day, when we set up near more than 30 polling locations across the city. Working with restaurants who’d been part of our pandemic response, WCK served everything from fresh sweet potato donuts to delicious hot pupusas!
These are only a tiny fraction of the incredible partners who helped make WCK’s Chefs For The Polls effort possible. You can see many more stories from the ground here. Follow WCK on Twitter and Instagram to see how we continue to use food to empower communities around the world – and thanks to all of our supporters who make this work a reality.
