Hot, dry, and windy conditions fueled the Calf Canyon, Hermits, and Cooks Peak Fires in New Mexico, destroying homes and burning hundreds of thousands of acres. Shifting winds caused the fire’s rapid spread, leading it to be the largest and most destructive in state history.
With increasing evacuation orders, the WCK Relief Team is expanded our efforts to serve comforting meals to anyone in need. In the affected areas, we supported restaurants providing meals at hotels, shelters, and community centers. In Santa Fe, where many evacuees and first responders were staying, we partnered with a large scale kitchen to cook thousands of meals.
As the western US is faced with prolonged droughts, wildfires are becoming more prevalent year-round—both scientists and fire experts note that climate change is amplifying the quick spread and intensity. WCK is committed and will continue to assist communities impacted by catastrophic and extreme wildfires in New Mexico.
By the numbers
Meals Served
Recipient Locations
Val
Val
Val lives in Cleveland, New Mexico. When evacuations began, he stayed behind with the volunteer fire department to help protect his hometown. When the WCK team brought the crew freshly prepared meals, they had not had any hot food in days.
Chef Jackie
Chef Jackie
Chef Jackie is the Culinary Program Director with YouthWorks, a local orgnaization offering a continuum of services for at-risk and disadvataged youth that partnered with us to cook hot meal for neighbors in need. Chef Jackie graduated from the program herself. Serving as our Chef Lead, she guided our response helping us provide comforting and local dishes.
Randy
Randy
Born and raised in New Mexico, Randy is the Assistant Director for Workforce Innovation Programming at YouthWorks. As part of our Relief Team, Randy served as our Lead Driver and Driver Coordinator working with a team to distribute meals with smiles and love. His favorite part of the role was witnessing first hand the impact that YouthWorks and WCK had on his community.
