A Hurricane and a Real-Life Hero
It was Monday, September 26, 2022, and Hurricane Ian was headed directly for Tampa Bay. As Steve and I debated whether to evacuate (we didn't), an email from World Central Kitchen (WCK) arrived, asking for volunteers in Tampa. My first reaction was excitement* that WCK was in my town! This was quickly followed by concern when I realized they were here because of a looming disaster.
* Why the excitement? Because WCK is one of our favorite charities, and was founded by celebrity chef and restaurateur José Andrés. We have admired him for years. We've had memorable meals at his excellent restaurants in DC, Orlando and New York. After watching the outstanding documentary We Feed People last May, José Andrés became one of my real-life heroes.
On Wednesday, Hurricane Ian made a last-minute turn before striking Florida. Tampa was unscathed, but communities 100 miles south of us were destroyed. On Thursday, WCK began feeding people, using the kitchen at Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa. I have volunteered at MetroMin many times, and was grateful for the opportunity to help and to experience firsthand how WCK operates. The short answer is, they do it AT SCALE. On Friday, I learned it is indeed possible to make 3,000 ham and cheese sandwiches in just one day, with a dozen volunteers and a tall chef with a loud voice.
The following week, World Central Kitchen moved their main kitchen down to Ft. Myers. Steve and I drove down to Port Charlotte, where we could see the awful aftermath of the storm. Our WCK meal distribution point was in the Home Depot parking lot, next to the FEMA tents.
Large pans of hot, delicious food were delivered in insulated Cambro containers; fresh fruit and bottled water arrived on pallets. We served meals to people arriving on foot and in a long line of cars. For many, it was their first hot meal since before the hurricane.
We were in Port Charlotte again the following week to distribute more meals. There's a special satisfaction in returning to do more of the same work, because you can try out your ideas for making things more efficient. If you are a frequent volunteer, you know what I mean.
Here's where things got really interesting. That same month, I had the privilege of attending the Great Place to Work For All Summit in Orlando (Accenture is among the top companies). Imagine my surprise and delight to learn that José Andrés was a featured speaker!
Onstage, he was funny, approachable, and inspiring. And when I had an opportunity to greet him afterward, I couldn’t believe my good fortune.
It’s not every day that one meets their heroes in real life! I was totally star-struck. I showed him photos from Port Charlotte on my phone, and we traded stories about the relief efforts. He was very friendly, and very kind.
In the wake of Hurricane Ian, WCK served 10,000 meals on the first day, and 200,000 meals in the first week. By the end of October, WCK had handed things over to local restaurants and food trucks and pulled out of Florida. They are still in Ukraine, where they serve a million meals each day. I’m sorry that WCK had to come to Florida, but I’m grateful for the chance to do my small part in their global mission to feed people. And I'll never forget how it felt to chat with one of my real-life heroes.
