WCK responds to devastating storms in Southeast US

 

WCK Mobilizes Across Southeastern US After Tornado and Storm Outbreak In the wake of severe storms across the southeastern US, WCK is providing meals to hard-hit communities—no matter how remote. With no single “ground zero,” we adapted our approach, conducting widespread assessments to identify the hardest-hit towns and quickly mobilizing restaurant partners to cook and deliver meals. Since Sunday, our response has scaled to serve thousands of meals daily across 20 counties in four states. Our Community Outreach Team has worked with restaurants in the most impacted areas to provide meals. Despite challenges reaching rural communities, we’ve partnered with 12 restaurants across Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, and Alabama. Chef Corps member Haley Riley is among the local leaders stepping up. Teams at his Missouri-based BBQ restaurants, Salt + Smoke, are cooking comforting meals for families in need. In the coming days, we will work closely with impacted communities and expand restaurant partnerships as new needs emerge. This model not only provides nourishing meals but also helps support the local economy in its recovery. Marking Ramadan’s Night of Power For millions of Muslims around the world, this night—the Night of Power—holds the promise of transformation. It is a moment when acts of compassion and generosity are multiplied, when kindness has the power to change lives. WCK’s teams in the region are harnessing this moment to bring comfort to families amidst the crisis, not just in Gaza but also Lebanon and the West Bank. With the increased attacks in Gaza, we are adapting our operations and substantially limiting the movement of our teams. We are assessing the security situation every day and making necessary adjustments, working to be able to scale back up to full operations as quickly as possible. In some cases, WCK-supported community kitchens are continuing to operate. Our team is still finding ways to support communities and have distributed food kits that include dozens of meals’ worth of food to help families. Take a behind-the-scenes look from the original packing of the boxes that families received in Gaza. We expanded our meal production in northern Gaza with the opening of our first Field Kitchen in the region on March 10. Named North Star Kitchen, it is WCK’s fourth large-scale Field Kitchen in Gaza. The North Star team joins our network of bakeries and community kitchens to provide tens of thousands of meals daily to North Gaza. Chefs at North Star Kitchen began cooking last week, rapidly scaling operations from 2,000 to 10,000 meals per day. Once fully expanded, our team here will produce 50,000 meals daily. Whether through cooking at Field Kitchens, working through local community leaders, or expanding access to food kits that can help meet household food needs for weeks at a time, the WCK team is finding ways to come through for families. Our work in Gaza and Lebanon is certified Zakat-eligible. Rest assured that 100% of your donation will go directly towards feeding families in Gaza and Lebanon. Meet the newest one-of-a-kind truck in WCK’s fleet! 🚛 Our new 43-foot Rapid Response Mobile Kitchen, built with support from Wells Fargo, allows us to prepare thousands of meals in hard-hit communities immediately after a disaster.  Last week, WCK’s Emergency Response Teams in Ukraine responded to back-to-back Russian attacks in residential areas in Kryvyi Rih and Chernihiv. We mobilized quickly to provide support to impacted residents and first responders on the scene. WCK was among the first to arrive in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. Now, we remain one of the last aid organizations serving meals in the Asheville area. Working with local leaders, we are planting the seeds for communities to rebuild.  WCK is Named Among Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Nonprofits WCK is honored to be named one of Fast Company’s top 10 most innovative nonprofits. For 15 years, innovation has driven our mission to deliver meals wherever they are needed. Our teams around the world always adapt and learn to meet the needs of families facing difficult times—providing hope, one plate of food at a time. This recognition is a testament to WCK’s staff, partners, and supporters who allow us to be a catalyst for innovation in the humanitarian sector.