At a time when everything feels lost, anything, like a hot meal, has the strength to give hope.
Two chefs from Shreveport-Bossier City have noticed how a gourmet dish can provide enough food and convenience to a community in crisis.
Hardette Harris, owner of Us Up North, and Panderina Soumas, owner of Soumas Heritage Creole Creations, joined Mercy Chefs for their Hurricane Laura Disaster Relief Awareness Service in Lake Charles.
On 27 August, the category four typhoon devastated the region, leaving thousands of citizens without food, water, electricity or shelter.
Mercy Chefs, a religious non-profit organization, travels to places affected by herbal errors and national emergencies to provide food to citizens and lifeguards. However, for Mercy’s chefs, it’s not enough to feed the masses they haven’t received yet. offering loose gourmet dishes, made from scratch, that can be discovered in a restaurant.
“Where do you move to a crisis site to locate ball balsamic dressings of shoemakers made from scratch?”Harris said. ” When other people come, it’s anything they’re looking for in advance, because when you get home, it’s hot and there’s no electricity, so their food goes to waste. They count on that. And for this very moment, it’s a little downtime. “
In August, Mercy Chefs teams deployed to Lake Charles to help with Hurricane Laura. This week, the groups are in a position to return to the Gulf States after Hurricane Delta.
They responded to several hurricanes, adding Harvey in Texas, Maria in Puerto Rico, Dorian in the Bahamas and Michael in Panama City and Katrina in New Orleans, than the organization.
Founder and leader Gary LeBlanc lives in Virginia and yet returned to his hometown of New Orleans to volunteer with other crisis aid organizations after Katrina. He was disappointed with what happened in the look of the place to eat and the lack of quality dishes presented to the recipients of the trays. Remember seeing green beans collected from cans and served without heating them.
Related: Damage caused by Hurricane Laura in Shreveport
“I came home and was angered by what I had noticed: lack of sanitation and food security, lack of passion, lack of professionalism,” LeBlanc said. “I just think there’s a better way to feed other people who have lost everything. “
Since its inception 14 years ago, Mercy Chefs has had more than 130 deployments to date. Prior to Hurricane Laura, cell recovery teams were stationed in Des Moines, Iowa, where direct winds caused major damage. Previous missions have included West, Texas, in reaction to the explosion and flooding of the fertilizer plant in Monroe and Baton Rouge.
The extra care and attention to detail and quality proved to be very happy by the time of parody.
“[Look) in someone’s eyes when they open one of the takeaway boxes and say, ‘Wow, someone really loves me again,’ makes me cry,’ LeBlanc said. They are looking for a bloodless hot dog or a bloodless snack and open one of our boxes and see this glorious artisanal food and cannot believe what we serve them. Kind of alive by that time someone opens the box and we absolutely exceed their expectations.
Harris’ first voluntary delight with Mercy Chefs after the plant exploded in West, Texas, in 2013. Hurricane Laura was his first chance to re-enlist in the organization, and came at a time when the leader in the midst of a no-public dilemma.
Shortly before the storm, Harris made an indefinite resolution to temporarily close his Allfinishale community restaurant. Like many in the food and beverage industry, the business had slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Harris took up a resolution to finish the food and takeaway. time to expand a plan so that your kitchen is fair in the long run.
“I closed because I needed to stop, turn and restart and do more than I imagined,” Harris said. “During the pandemic, you can do a lot to keep your head out of the water and after a while, you see that it will take a long time to redo. “
With nowhere to eat to drive and Hurricane Laura gaining momentum, she saw an opportunity to share her culinary skills and talents with those in need.
After talking to LeBlanc, Harris made the decision to go to Lake Charles that week and invited Soumas, an old friend and fellow cook, to sign up for her.
Related: Hurricane Delta will hit the US Gulf coast. U. S. As a Category 3 Typhoon on Friday
Soumas in a position comparable to Harris. Soumas Heritage Creole Creations, its service of condiments and mixtures of corporate packaged food and catering, had a rate of decline or beyond orders, due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, he saw the declining season as a time to concentrate on others.
Harris and Soumas were on the Lake Charles network from August 27 to 31 and saw citizens with no must-haves and no option to live in ruined homes, such as giant trees left in their living rooms.
“On a non-public level, it gives you the ability to take so many things for granted,” Soumas said. “We take everything for granted: running water, the next meal, turning on the stove, going to the fridge. This allows you to concentrate.
Mercy Chefs stands out for adapting to unpredictable environments to supply thousands of recipients every day. Every detail is meticulously planned.
In Lake Charles, staff were able to move safely around town once Hurricane Laura passed. In less than 24 hours, a cell kitchen in a tent installed in a church parking lot. The church served as a shelter for volunteers and staff. .
Fresh food trucks were shipped from food stall distribution warehouses. A plan has been put in place to conserve and allocate donations and limited orders for water, which have been used for drinking, sanitation and showering.
The operation was carried out through volunteers: an average of 50 to 60 were on site. One of the few staff members, the head chef, who provided instructions and planned each meal, relied on the ingredients consumed, and that had to be enough to get more than 8,000 foods prepared each day.
The menu changed and featured dishes such as the Alfredo bird, roasted bird thighs, jambalaya, meatloaf, baked pasta with beef, feta cheese bread, beans, southern cabbage, cherry shoemaker, etc.
“You do it without a full advertising kitchen,” Harris said. “You have to wash your vegetables, but you have to get jugs of water and put them in a saucepan and that’s how you wash your vegetables. There’s no sink. “”
In the cellular kitchen, the user and the task of one and both is vital to prepare food for the other undercovers to obtain them and for distribution trucks to deliver to the neighborhoods of the region.
“If we take me and other volunteers, they can’t prepare 8,000 meals with five people,” Harris said. “All the help makes sense. They may not be paintings without the resolution of painting together. This is not an exhibition for one person. “”
Moreover, there is no room for egos, Harris and Soumas implemented their culinary experience, but they did not hesitate to join the groups in carrying out responsibilities that can be considered subordinate.
Harris and Soumas were part of the preparation team. His responsibilities included chopping vegetables and herbs, mixing salads, glazing cakes and embellishing French bread with feta cheese.
Others were assigned responsibilities such as smoked meat, labeling boxes, and delivering meals.
“I didn’t come here as a leader. I’m not in favor of any title or position. I don’t have a chef’s jacket,” Harris said. I think you can only paint if you know you’re here to help someone else. “and you’re not here to say, “I’m the director. “We are all others who need to help others. “
All degrees of culinary delight are welcome to volunteer with Mercy Chef. There’s a role for everyone, whether it’s a professional culinary artist or someone with little or no culinary delight.
“It’s a wonderful organization. If you ever have the chance to give your time or if you’re in the culinary field, let them know your mastery of experience and they’ll put you to work,” Soumas said.
“They’re all encouraging. I think if you hear about this in your area, you go. Just introduce yourself and say you need to volunteer and they’re going to give you a blouse and an apron and you just have to cut, match or count the rolls,” Harris said.
It was a humiliating delight for the bosses and they probably wouldn’t forget it soon.
While they realize everything they have done to provide assistance, it will take a long time for citizens to recover.
“At some point, Mercy Chefs and everyone are going to leave, so you can’t think of the other people who will stay lucky,” Harris said. “It’s not a quick fix. They’re in bad shape everywhere. There’s a lot to think about. “
Mercy Chefs moved to Lake Charles from August 27 to September 12, where they prepared 97,852 hot meals and 30,000 store meals.
This week, Mercy Chefs teams are operating in Pensacola, Florida, and food box distributions have continued in Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Florida. The hatchlings are in condition to return to the Gulf Coast in reaction to Hurricane Delta this week.
Mercy Chefs also supplies nutrient-rich foods in food-insecure communities in the United States, all year round circulating in permanent kitchens.
More than five million foods have been since the organization’s inception.
To be more informed about Mercy Chefs, volunteer or make a donation, mercychefs. com.