WCK values shine through in Gaza
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is deteriorating as attacks escalate near areas where hundreds of thousands of people have fled in search of safety. “Conditions on the ground are becoming increasingly unpredictable and dangerous,” said John McLellan, WCK’s Chief Global Safety and Security Officer. “We continue to support our local team by providing many layers of intel to keep them informed and safe.” Even with our best efforts, WCK team members are being injured and killed at higher rates since our work in the region began almost a year ago.
Constantly shifting evacuation orders are impacting our ability to produce as many meals as our kitchen capacities allow, putting more Palestinians at risk of malnourishment and starvation. Despite these harrowing conditions, WCK’s Gaza team members have provided more than 70 million meals for their neighbors while embodying WCK’s core values of empathy, adaptability, resilience, and collaboration. We invite you to read some of their inspiring stories below.
Empathy: Bilal and Mahmoud
Bilal and Mahmoud are twin brothers who were displaced from their home in northern Gaza and now have been valuable WCK team members for more than eight months. They first started working in our Rafah Field Kitchen, and when that kitchen was evacuated because of military operations in the area, they moved to work in our Deir al-Balah Field Kitchen. Amidst the harsh conditions of war, the two young men dedicate their time and effort to serving the community by preparing and distributing food to families in need.
Mahmoud works in the kitchen, where he excels at preparing ingredients and crafting recipes. “Preparing food is not just a job—it is a message of love and hope,” he said. “The smiles on people’s faces after enjoying a delicious meal are the greatest reward for me.”
Preparing food is not just a job—it is a message of love and hope.
Mahmoud
WCK team member in Gaza
Bilal works with our distribution team where he is responsible for transporting meals and distributing them to recipients. “Seeing people receive a warm meal gives me a sense of satisfaction and happiness,” he said. Despite the challenges and difficulties, Bilal and Mahmoud find joy in their work. They know that they are contributing something valuable to their community and their empathy is felt by everyone around them.
Resilience: Naila
WCK partners with dozens of community kitchens in Gaza, including one operated together with a local organization, Children of the Deaf Foundation. All the staff in this kitchen have some form of hearing impairment or disability and bring extensive cooking experience to their dedicated work. Every day, they produce hundreds of hot, nourishing meals for their fellow Palestinians.
“Since the beginning of the war, everyone in the community has been contributing to help people,” said Naila, one of the staff members in this kitchen. “Despite our disabilities, we have strived to be part of these positive individuals and provide food to people in need. This brings us joy and motivates us to keep going.”
Collaboration: Deir al-Balah Kitchen
WCK’s Field Kitchen in Deir al-Balah is filled with workers who come together every single day to cook, pack, and distribute food in central Gaza—except for the days the kitchen is under evacuation orders. The team there has an insatiable drive to help as many people as possible, and that is what led to a huge milestone. At the end of July, the team passed the 2 million meals mark since the kitchen opened in March. The atmosphere was proud and joyous, and the next day the staff went right back to work cooking even more meals.
“Every member of the team played an important role in achieving this goal, reinforcing the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance in the community,” said Mahdy, one of our photographers in Gaza. “This achievement is not only the result of hard work, but also a testament to the power of unity and working with love to serve the community.”
Adaptability: Hossam and the WCK stoves
For nearly a year, it has been all but impossible to get any sort of fuel into Gaza, and this makes cooking extremely difficult. Thanks to the adaptability of our teams in Cairo, we found a solution. Hossam, an Egyptian engineer, designed an innovative wood pellet stove for us. There are now dozens of them in WCK’s kitchens across Gaza.
The stoves use small wooden pellets as fuel—which are easy to procure in Egypt and are allowed to be shipped into Gaza—as well as a solar-powered fan to help the stove burn hotter, essential for cooking at scale. It is thanks to Hossam and these stoves that we have been able to cook tens of millions of hot meals to distribute to Palestinians in Gaza.
Excellence: Chef Yasmeen
Ensuring the meals WCK serves around the world meet quality, food safety, and nutrition standards is essential to our work. Chef Yasmeen is part of our Quality Monitoring Team in Gaza where she oversees kitchens producing meals.
“My team and I, as part of the Quality Monitoring Team, continuously work through field visits—focusing on various aspects of food preparation, cooking processes, cleanliness, storage methods—to ensure the delivery of high-quality food,” she said. “We also prioritize training kitchen staff on the latest health practices and advanced cooking techniques that help preserve the nutritional value of the meals served.”
This team’s work is critical to keeping our meals safe and healthy while also giving Palestinian kitchen staff the tools and knowledge to grow and improve. “We believe that investing in the skills of our workers and ensuring they adhere to the highest standards of safety and quality is the best way to achieve food security and provide delicious and healthy food to beneficiaries in Gaza,” said Chef Yasmeen.
Determination: Damian’s Kitchen
WCK also operates a Field Kitchen in Al-Mawasi named Damian’s Kitchen in honor of Damian Soból, one of the seven team members killed by the IDF on April 1, 2024. In 2022, WCK established a Relief Kitchen in Damian’s hometown of Przemyśl, Poland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and it was there that Damian joined the WCK team. His work with WCK later took him to Greece following wildfires, and to Morocco and Türkiye after devastating earthquakes.
Damian was an integral part of our Gaza team, helping lead construction and maintenance of our kitchens and warehouses. His personal mantra was, “No Problems, Only Solutions.” That determination was something Damian embodied every day of his life and it was a driving force behind the Palestinian team that built the Field Kitchen in his honor. Now, dozens of Palestinians work in Damian’s Kitchen to cook and distribute thousands of meals every day for people who are displaced and in search of safety.
The hundreds of Palestinians working with WCK are a reminder that even in the midst of darkness, chaos, and violence, there will always be humans who bring hope, love, and peace to the people around them. Their bravery and empathy continue to shine through, no matter the circumstances.
Help our Palestinian team keep cooking.
