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WCK & local partners support Haitians amid widespread unrest

#ChefsForHaiti
Haiti | Active from March – August 2024
World Central Kitchen worked with local organizations on the ground in Haiti to provide meals to communities impacted by ongoing unrest. Alongside healthcare and NGO partners, we established a distribution system to support hospitals and displaced families.

Social and political unrest escalated over the past months, compounding an existing humanitarian crisis in Haiti. Widespread violence in Port-au-Prince, the nation’s capital, displaced thousands of families.

To ensure we could support Haitians in as many ways as possible, we connected with local and international organizations, along with local women entrepreneurs whose businesses were disrupted by the chaos. These women work as food vendors and with WCK’s support they were again able to cook for their local communities. 

WCK’s origins trace back to Haiti when José cooked alongside displaced families following the devastating 2010 earthquake. Since then, we have responded to four crises in the country, including a hurricane, earthquake, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

By the numbers

751,000+

Hot Meals Served

7,430

Meal Kits Distributed

Partner organization: Hospital Albert Schweitzer

We supported our longtime partner and cornerstone of the community, Hospital Albert Schweitzer (HAS). Their staff used local resources and HAS facilities to cook nourishing hot meals for families impacted by the violence engulfing the country.

Not only will we be feeding daily hot meals to people who are approaching starvation, but the ingredients for the meals are sourced from local farmers and providers to help support the local economy in Artibonite, which has been devastated by the chaos.

Jean Marc de Matteis

HAS CEO and WCK Board Member

Women entrepreneurs feeding their communities

These incredible women are experienced food vendors whose businesses have suffered since the country’s violent upheaval. With WCK’s support, they were once again able to cook for and serve their local communities while supporting themselves and their families.

Partner organization: CORE

In addition to cooking hundreds of thousands of meals at WCK-supported community kitchens, we worked alongside the nonprofit CORE to distribute food kits to Haitians impacted by unrest. We provided nearly 7,500 of these kits to families able to cook for themselves.

Chefs For Haiti

WCK’s origins trace back to Haiti when José cooked alongside displaced families following the devastating 2010 earthquake. Since then, we have responded to four crises in the country, including a hurricane, earthquake, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Help us continue providing meals to families in need.

Latest from the ground

  • Meet Virgine, one of the many Haitian women leading the WCK and @HASHaiti community kitchens. Since first responding to the ongoing unrest, our teams have served more than 50,000 nourishing meals to displaced families and communities that have lost access to food. #ChefsForHaiti

    Twitter | 4/26/2024
  • WCK’s team met Linda while assessing food needs in Port-au-Prince. She is one of countless street food vendors whose business was disrupted by ongoing unrest in Haiti. Today, she is one of the many vendors we are paying to provide free meals to displaced families. #ChefsForHaiti

    Twitter | 4/01/2024
  • WCK and @HASHaiti are serving meals at a Port-au-Prince camp for people who have been displaced in the Haitian capital as a result of ongoing violence. In addition to providing meals, our team repaired bathroom facilities and restored the camp’s water supply. #ChefsForHaiti

    Twitter | 3/31/2024