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MARCH 26, 2009 – Call it food for body and soul: That’s what some of the
Charleston area’s best chefs and caterers will be serving up for needy
Lowcountry residents as part of a new initiative called Charleston Chefs
Feed the Need. It’s the nation’s first organized relief effort in which
meals will be cooked and served by the hospitality community on a year-round
basis.
Mickey Bakst, the general manager of Charleston Grill at Charleston Place,
came up with the idea. A coalition of 52 local restaurants, chefs, hotels
and caterers will team up and spend the next year taking turns preparing and
serving meals at local emergency food shelters. The number of meals they’ll
be preparing is expected to top 20,000.
“Legendary restaurateur Alice Waters was quoted as saying that ‘Good food
should be a right, not a privilege,’ ” Bakst said at a Wednesday press
conference announcing the coalition. “To a dramatically increasing number of
people here in the Charleston area, it is not just about good food … it’s
about any food at all.”
Here’s how it will work: Every Wednesday, one of the participating
establishments will donate food and labor for 400 free meals. The meals will
be served in coordination with four local nonprofit agencies: Tricounty
Family Ministries, East Cooper Meals on Wheels, Crisis Ministries and
Neighborhood House. The Lowcountry Food Bank (a nonprofit partner of
CharlestonCurrents.com) will administer a schedule rotating meals between
those four sites. A team from Charleston Grill will prepare the first meal,
which will be served on April 22.
The local culinary community has long supported our food banks and shelters.
The annual Chefs Feast for the Lowcountry Food Bank is one example; another
is the BB&T Charleston Food + Wine Festival’s donation of leftover food to
Crisis Ministries. With the economy in such dire straits, the need for that
kind of support is greater than ever. Already this year, East Cooper Meals
on Wheels has delivered 20 percent more meals than in 2008, and Feed the
Need’s organizers also note that more than 45 percent of public school
students are taking part in free or reduced-price lunch programs. The demand
for help at emergency food providers in the Lowcountry was up 36 percent in
2008, organizers say.
Bakst said the culinary community’s response to Feed the Need was
enthusiastic. “Each of the chefs participating in this effort has
volunteered their time and money without hesitation,” he said. “They have
stepped up to the table and asked, ‘How can we help?’ This at a time when
each of them faces their own struggles due to the economic turmoil we are
all aware of.”
Bakst and all the participating chefs, restaurateurs and hoteliers deserve
more than just a pat on the back – they deserve this community’s support,
patronage and thanks. I think they also deserve some personal recognition,
so here’s who they are:
The Art Institute of Charleston, Atlanticville, AW Shucks, Basil, The
Boathouse, Bocci’s, Bubba Gump, California Dreaming, Carolinas, Caviar and
Bananas, Chai’s, Charleston Grill, Charleston Place Events, Circa 1886, Cru
Café, Culinary Institute of Charleston, Cypress, Duvall Catering, Embassy
Suites North Charleston, Fat Hen, FIG, Fish, Fleet Landing, Fulton Five,
Gilligan’s Steamer and Raw Bar, Glass Onion, Gullah Cuisine, Halls
Chophouse, Hank’s Seafood, Il Cortile Del Re, Iverson Catering, Jasmine
Porch at the Sanctuary, Jim ’N Nicks, JVC Catering, Longhorn Steakhouse,
Trattoria Lucca, McCrady’s, Med Bistro, Muse, Mustard Seed, Oak Steakhouse,
Ocean Room at the Sanctuary at Kiawah, 82 Queen, Red’s Ice House,
Seel’s Fish Camp, Sermet’s, Taco Boy, Tidewater Catering, Tristan,
Vickery’s, Wild Dunes Resort and the Woodlands Inn.
Help Feed the Need
If you’d like to support Charleston Chefs Feed the Need, you can send a
donation (it will benefit all the nonprofits) to Crisis Ministries, P.O. Box
20038, Charleston, S.C., 29413. Make checks payable to Crisis Ministries
with “Charleston Chefs” in the memo space
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