Feed More has hired seven cooks from local restaurants to work in the Steve and Sarah Bayard Community Kitchen thanks to a grant from The Community Foundation for a greater Richmond’s Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund. The cooks hail from popular RVA restaurants Lemaire, Acacia Midtown, Shagbark, West Coast Provisions, East Coast Provisions and Sunset Grille.
“Each weekday, thousands of meals are made from scratch in our Bayard Community Kitchen. To help ensure continuity of our operations, we split our Community Kitchen staff into two buildings and knew we’d need additional help,” said Doug Pick, President and CEO of Feed More. “The seven professional cooks we hired have helped us meet the increased need and we thank The Community Foundation and everyone who has donated to the Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund for making it possible.”
Feed More prepares and distributes more than 12,000 meals every week through programs like Meals on Wheels, which provides to senior and homebound neighbors that are unable to shop or cook for themselves, with nutritious meals delivered to their doorstep. More than 800 homebound neighbors in the greater Richmond area rely on the meals through this program as their primary source of nutrition.
Aline Reitzer, longtime restauranteur and founder of Richmond Restaurant Week helped Feed More connect with the cooks. “Those that choose the hospitality industry are naturally very passionate people who love serving their communities,” said Reitzer. “This is an opportunity for them to continue to use their skills in the Feed More kitchen, earn a paycheck, all while stepping up and helping feed their neighbors in need — a true win-win-win during this tough time.”
For more information about Feed More and how you can join the fight against hunger, please visit feedmore.org.