World Central Kitchen COVID-19 Response

Project Report | Jul 30, 2021
WCK's Pandemic Response

By Daniel Poole | Development Manager

Gloribelle and Walid of Barcha in East Harlem

In response to the health, economic, and humanitarian impacts of COVID-19, WCK has engineered a model that simultaneously addresses two challenges at once: rising food insecurity and widespread restaurant closures. We have partnered with local, independent, and minority-owned restaurants to prepare meals for populations struggling to access food due to the pandemic. By paying restaurants an average of $10 per meal, WCK has provided guaranteed business and income to cover the cost of ingredients, employee wages, and monthly expenses such as rent and electricity. Since mid-March 2020, WCK has served more than 37 million meals in 410+ cities and partnered with 2,500+ restaurants, putting $162+ million back into the food service industry that has been devastated by the pandemic.

The pandemic paralyzed food relief systems and resulted in long lines at food banks across the country. In addition to traditional forms of meal delivery, we realized we needed an innovative approach. The WCK team piloted a text-to-order program called WCK Direct, which utilizes technology to allow food insecure households to order meals directly for delivery or pick-up from participating restaurants, as opposed to picking up meals from congregate sites. WCK collaborates with our network of community-based organizations to identify households in need. The pre-approved households place orders through our technology platform via text or phone call, choosing which participating restaurant to order meals from and detailing the number of meals needed that day. The restaurant views these orders and schedules deliveries or packages the meals for in-restaurant pick up.

WCK Direct provides flexibility for families, as they decide what meal they would like, how many, and when they would like them. WCK Direct also creates more opportunities for personal and meaningful interactions when families pick up meals from restaurants. For example, Gloribelle and Walid, owners of partner restaurant Barcha in East Harlem and pictured above, told us, “WCK Direct is a genius idea. It's more than food service. It's more convenient and dignified for them, and resourceful for us. It lets me have a deeper connection with my neighbors one-on-one and a moment to ask, 'How are you? How's the family? What do you need?’”

Since piloting WCK Direct, we have served 125,000+ meals in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, DC. WCK is launching the program in Oakland in the coming weeks and aims to expand to additional cities by the end of the year. With philanthropic support, we can continue to scale WCK Direct. We are grateful for your support of our work, which helps us provide nourishment and comfort to communities in need.

Picking up a meal through WCK Direct

Meal prepared by partner La Adelita de Woodside

Links:

Learn more about WCK Direct!

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Apr 2, 2021
One Year Later: 36 Million Meals and 400+ Cities

By Daniel Poole | Development Manager

It has now been more than a year since World Central Kitchen (WCK) served our first meal in New York City in response to the COVID pandemic. At that time, we could not foresee that we were embarking on our largest food relief effort in our organization’s history. Since mid-March 2020, WCK has served more than 36 million meals in 400+ cities to communities affected by the health, economic, and humanitarian impacts of the pandemic. Through Restaurants for the People, we have partnered with 2,400+ restaurants across the United States to help prepare these meals, putting more than $152 million directly back into local businesses and uplifting an industry that has been devastated by the pandemic. Some of WCK’s recent efforts are summarized below:

In early 2021, Los Angeles suffered a devastating surge in virus cases. It was estimated one person passed away from COVID-19 every 15 minutes in LA County, and hospitals were operating at 0% capacity. WCK ramped up our food relief efforts in the city, prioritizing overwhelmed medical facilities to deliver nourishing meals to frontline healthcare workers and providing meals to a limited number of community sites. In addition, we set up our Relief Food Truck in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium to prepare and serve meals to CORE Response staff and volunteers who have been working hard to vaccinate Californians. In total, we have served 3.8 million meals in LA.
In January and February 2021, WCK received funding to provide meals to frontline healthcare workers in NYC amid a new horrifying wave: COVID cases had surged, and the city’s available ICU beds were at their lowest level since last Spring. We ramped up our operation to serve 30,000 meals a day to 15 public hospitals for 30 days, even battling through a snowstorm to deliver meals.
In mid-March 2021, WCK started back up in California with the United Farm Workers Foundation to provide nourishing meals to farm workers in three counties—Kern, Ventura, and Tulare. Our first day of distribution included 1,900 meals from eight restaurants during a vaccination event for these essential workers. Since then, we have delivered more than 30,000 meals.

Looking Ahead

Our pandemic response continues where we are able. As part of our food relief efforts, we launched WCK Direct in New York City, a text-to-order program for families facing a lack of food. Our partner restaurants prepare fresh meals on demand, which can be picked up or delivered directly to households in need. WCK Direct has launched in Chicago, and we aim to expand the program to Washington, DC. With additional philanthropic support, we can continue to scale WCK Direct, which can serve as a longer-term solution to chronic food insecurity in the U.S. after the pandemic.

A second part of our ongoing pandemic response is the FEED Act, which is a bipartisan bill that aims to address two crises exacerbated by the Covid crisis: a significant increase in the number of hungry Americans and the loss of millions of restaurant jobs. The FEED Act would release FEMA funds at the state and local level to support restaurants as they prepare fresh meals to food insecure populations, allowing programs like our Restaurants for the People to expand across the country with federal support. Please see the link to WCK’s webpage on the FEED Act for more information.

Thank you for your support of WCK. We are grateful that you have joined us in nourishing communities in times of crisis and beyond, one plate at a time.

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Dec 7, 2020
#ChefsForAmerica: Over 8 Months and 33 Million Meals

By Daniel Poole | Development Manager

A fresh restaurant-prepared meal served in LA

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, WCK has been cooking for 260 days — over eight months — and we’re still going. We have provided more 33.5 million meals in 400+ cities in 35 states and territories across the United States. Some of our largest citywide activations include: New York City (8.5 million meals); Oakland (2.3 million meals); southern California, including Los Angeles (4 million meals); Washington, D.C. (1.3 million); and New Orleans (1.26 million meals). Currently, our teams are distributing up to 20,000 meals per day nationwide while continuing to monitor needs across the country.

We have developed and refined our food relief model, which provides quality meals to communities in need while simultaneously supporting the struggling restaurant industry. By partnering with 2,450+ restaurants to provide more than 12 million nourishing meals, we have put $133.1 million (and rising!) directly back into an industry that has been devastated throughout the pandemic.

We continue to receive positive feedback from our restaurant partners and are pleased to share a snapshot of a few conversations below:

Jam’It Bistro in Brooklyn has been able to hire two employees from a local shelter to help prepare meals. Dawn, owner of the Jamaican restaurant, told us, “every dish is my reputation and a chance to spread the Jamaican love of food further & deeper.”
Chef Terence, owner of Terra Café in Baltimore, which has prepared 11,800 in partnership with WCK, said, “I already knew we were going to be in trouble when it started. When you guys came, it was life saving.”
Chef Oumar of The Damel in Oakland told us, “I want to extend our thanks to you for not only saving our business from closing down but also for helping our great team stay employed. Your generosity reflects our mission statement of nurturing growth and building community. With WCK’s great partnership, The Damel is focusing on thriving and not surviving.”
Pão De Queijo is a Brazilian restaurant in Astoria, Queens. Karina told us, “Everyone in the city is bracing for the next months... With WCK, not only could we feed our community now as the city is recovering but also, it helps us financially prepare to survive through the winter. I’m saving every dollar from those meals to keep us afloat.”

COVID-19 is first and foremost a health crisis that has turned into an economic crisis as well as a humanitarian crisis. We’ve distributed meals to many communities in need, but with a looming winter season ahead, the pandemic will continue to cause hardship for millions of people and restaurants alike. Thank you for your support of our pandemic response. Together, we are providing fresh meals to communities in need while putting money back into small businesses around the country.

Karina of Pao De Queijo in Astoria, NY

Dawn of Jam'It Bistro in Brooklyn, NY

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