More than 310,000 meals served to communities impacted by Hurricane Fiona
WCK has served more than 310,000 meals from the Caribbean to Canada over the past ten days to communities impacted by Hurricane Fiona—a storm that left a 2,000 mile path of destruction.
Over the course of one week, Hurricane Fiona took a heavy toll on Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Turks & Caicos Islands, Bermuda, and Nova Scotia. WCK advance teams were on the ground before the storm hit to bring nourishing meals and water to people in need as soon as possible. As our response has scaled, we now have more than 120 team members—including dozens of volunteers—preparing tens of thousands of meals every day across the affected regions.
Puerto Rico took the brunt of the damage. The storm dumped more than two feet of rain on the island, shutting down all of the already fragile power grid, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides, and destroying an estimated 80% of farmland. Our team began preparing sandwiches the night before the storm made landfall and set up a Field Kitchen as soon as it passed. After two days preparing meals in San Juan, we relocated our Field Kitchen to Ponce on the island’s hard-hit southern coast. Alongside restaurant and food truck partners, the WCK team quickly scaled up to cook 40,000 meals each day that are reaching communities all across the territory.
The core team in Puerto Rico is made up of local chefs and operation leads who first worked with WCK during our Hurricane María response and remain united under the #ChefsForPuertoRico banner. Their local expertise allowed us to quickly identify communities in urgent need—including 30 families in Utuado that were left completely stranded for several days after the only bridge into their town was swept away.
The storm hit Puerto Rico at the peak of the island’s harvest season. Farmland has been devastated and food producers are doing all they can to prevent crops from going to waste. To support these efforts, our Field Kitchen purchased thousands of pounds of produce that would have otherwise been lost from WCK Food Producer Network farms. Fresh avocado, watermelon, and pumpkin have all been featured on our menu, boosting nutritional value and offering a much-needed source of income for farmers.
The agriculture sector has been devastated. We are working hard so crops do not go to waste.
Antonio Rosa
Owner of Cundeamor, a local produce distributor and Food Producer Network program particiapnt
After hitting Puerto Rico, Hurricane Fiona began to intensify. By the time it slammed into eastern Dominican Republic, it had sustained winds of 90 miles per hour. Strong wind and heavy rain forced thousands to evacuate their homes, with many families building makeshift shelters on the side of the road. Our team quickly began delivering hot meals, sandwiches, and fruit to displaced families and residents of Boca de Yuma—a coastal community near where Hurricane Fiona made landfall.
Our team in the Dominican Republic has reached the most remote communities impacted by the storm. As soon as the weather permitted, a helicopter was loaded with sandwiches for people in the Samaná Peninsula where the storm had caused extensive damage and left families without food or water. Another town—Arroyo Santiago—was cut off when heavy rains caused the river to flood and wash away roads. Wasting no time, our team set off on horseback to deliver hot meals to the 120 families left isolated.
As Hurricane Fiona continued to intensify and wreak havoc in the Caribbean, members of our Relief Team loaded a plane from the Dominican Republic with sandwiches, fruit, and water as they headed to the Turks & Caicos Islands the day after the storm passed over the archipelago. On September 23, we began hot meal service on Grand Turk for communities still without power.
One day after landing on the Turks & Caicos Islands, another team was on the ground in Bermuda where the storm left a third of the territory’s largest island without power. WCK’s Relief Team’s efforts were aided by Chef Jason Berwick—a local Bermuda resident and WCK Chef Corps member—who helped identify both communities in need and partners to support. Fueled by WCK-provided meals, essential workers acted quickly to restore utilities. Before power was restored, we provided lunch and dinner to vulnerable families whose food had spoiled due to the lack of electricity.
On September 24, the storm hit Nova Scotia on Canada’s Atlantic coast. While families on the peninsula are accustomed to strong storms, the community was not prepared for the devastation caused by Hurricane Fiona. Over the course of 24 hours, the storm washed entire homes into the ocean and forced many families into shelters. In partnership with local restaurants and volunteers, we have delivered sandwiches and hot meals to displaced families and senior centers that have spent days without power.
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