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    WCK mobilizes across southeastern US after tornado and storm outbreak

    #ChefsForMississippi #ChefsForMissouri #ChefsForArkansas #ChefsForAlabama #ChefsForKentucky
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    Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Alabama | Active from March – May 2025
    In the wake of severe storms across the southeastern United States, WCK provided meals to hard-hit communities—no matter how remote. With no single “ground zero,” we adapted our approach, conducting widespread assessments to identify the hardest-hit towns and quickly mobilizing restaurant partners to cook and deliver meals.

    In late March 2025, across several southeastern US states, raging winds downed power lines, sparking wildfires. Dust storms have done substantial damage, and dozens of tornadoes destroyed communities and homes. About 300,000 people were believed to be without electricity.

    Our Community Outreach Teamworked with restaurants in the most impacted areas to provide meals. Despite challenges reaching rural communities, we partnered with restaurants across Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, and Alabama.

    We worked closely with impacted communities and expanded restaurant partnerships as new needs emerged. This model not only provides nourishing meals but also helps support the local economy in its recovery.

    After another round of storms hit, we adjusted our locations to serve in Kentucky as well. More local partners, including the teams at HurriKanes and C&W Barbecue, showed up to serve their communities. Because of the nature of the storms and the rural communities impacted, we mobilized our food truck in Kentucky to help support families.

    WCK’s impact

    157,000+

    Meals Served

    Breakfast in Mississippi

    In Elliott, Mississippi, Allison and her husband Rob of Nancy’s Donuts prepared delicious breakfast sandwiches that were distributed at a local church. The biscuit sandwiches are easy to eat on the go as residents work on recovery efforts.

    BBQ in Missouri

    Chef Corps member Haley Riley is among the local leaders stepping up. Teams at his Missouri-based BBQ restaurants, Salt + Smoke, are cooking comforting meals for families in need. They served dishes like smoked chicken salad with sweet pepper potato salad to families in Rolla, Missouri. As a Chef Corps member, Haley helps WCK get cooking as quickly as possible following crises.
    “Professional food service is demanding, fast-paced, and facilitated in highly pressurized environments,” he explained. “Chefs that have evolved in those types of environments thrive in chaos; and that type of personality carries over to crisis and emergency relief situations.”

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    Support our efforts to serve nourishing meals to families impacted by the storms.

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