Alejandro, a member of World Central Kitchen’s community outreach team, lives with his family on the 12th floor of an apartment building in Manizales, Colombia. On the morning of August 10, his wife had already left for work and his eight-year-old daughter was sleeping. Then, shaking woke her up. He hugged her; they both took refuge in the bathroom and waited. 

A few weeks before, Alejandro was in Venezuela as part of WCK’s response to back-to-back quakes that hit in late June. In Venezuela he experienced an aftershock, an experience that immediately let him know what they were experiencing in their Colombia home was an earthquake. 

Less than 12 hours after the 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia, WCK was serving meals. This was possible thanks to our local partners, our well-connected network of collaborators, and community members like Alejandro.

That morning, after he evacuated the building with his daughter, Alejandro made two important calls. First, he confirmed his wife was safe, and a few minutes later, he got in touch with Arthur, WCK’s Community Outreach Manager. The photos Alejandro’s wife sent gave our teams the first glimpse of the impact.

Not long after, WCK had connected with our longtime local partner, Fundación Gastronomía Social Colombia, who began connecting with restaurants to prepare sandwiches for distribution in Manizales. With their support and connections, Alejandro and a group of volunteers delivered 1,000 sandwiches in the most affected areas of the city until late that night.

After the first day, our teams quickly spread out from Manizales to the most impacted areas, including Cali, Buenaventura, Quibdó, and Pereira.

Throughout the response, we relied on our local partners to keep us connected and serving meals. Cristina Botero, Director of Fundación Gastronomía Social Colombia, and Chef Corps member Harry Sasson helped us connect with our first restaurant partners so we could serve meals as quickly as possible. Our teams worked closely with community members who had already begun supporting themselves, giving them increased access and infrastructure to continue their critical work. 

When delivering meals in Buenaventura with Karina, a local volunteer, we found people rebuilding their houses in the Lleras neighborhood located on an island in Buenaventura Bay. Here, and across all impacted regions, local restaurants, hotels, and culinary schools came together to care for each other. 

It was with the support of these partners that we were able to scale rapidly across the country. By the third day of our response, we had already served 30,000 meals; by day seven, we’d served over 100,000 meals. Our teams also worked closely with local restaurants to establish 26 community kitchens. The teams here are equipped to cook for their neighbors in crisis–a skill set that will remain for years to come. 

Cali is Colombia’s capital of salsa music and cane sugar, so flavor is part of its DNA. It was jarring for our teams to see the city’s quietness. Two days after the earthquake, while delivering some meals and tools for rescue workers, our teams stood in silence for several minutes as rescuers listened for any signs of life. The next day, community members waited in line next to the rescue areas to offer their help, and dozens of local residents offered to help  WCK teams serve meals. 

We also expanded our team towards Quibdó, the capital of the Chocó department. There, at Pueblo de la Alegría restaurant, Chef and Founder Zulia shared with us the importance of cooking with local flavors. She told us that, in these moments of crisis, it’s important for people to heal through food and understand that they’re not only nourishing their bodies, but also their souls.  

As our efforts have wound down in Colombia, we’ve made lasting connections with community members across the impacted regions. We served over 1 million meals and created new partnerships in Cali, Buenaventura, Quibdó, Manizales, and Pereira. These partners will serve their communities even after WCK teams are no longer on the ground, and we will be able to work with them again if and when another disaster strikes. We also sharpened our ability to pivot quickly. Our teams responded differently across various regions depending on their needs–the community asked for different resources in Quibdó, which is surrounded by trees, compared to Buenaventura, which is located near the ocean. Our commitment to Colombia will persist through our learnings, our networks, and our passion for serving families in need.

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