D.C.-based celebrity chef José Andrés provided over 100,000 free meals for Bahamians, who recently survived the Hurricane Dorian, through his non-profit World Central Kitchen.
Andrés‘ team started serving food in the Bahamas last week, as well as in the Carolinas and Florida following the Hurricane Dorian.
Founded by Andrés in 2010, World Central Kitchen is dedicated to distributing meals in areas affected by natural disasters.
The organization tweeted on September 10 that it has reached its 100,000th meal delivery in the Bahamas, featuring a photo of Andrés.
Today we served our 100,000th #ChefsForBahamas meal. But it’s not just about delivering food to eat — it’s the message: We are all here for you during this difficult time. ❤️🇧🇸 pic.twitter.com/y3XXmkndxK
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) September 10, 2019
Approximately 17 percent of the Bahamian population — 70,000 people — were left homeless due to the hurricane, while the death toll is at 50 and likely to rise even more, according to CNN.
World Central Kitchen had arrived in the Bahamian capital of Nassau ahead of the storm. After Dorian left the islands, the group’s Chef Relief team led by Andrés was able to travel to the Abaco Islands, which is in the northern Bahamas, on September 3.
The group experienced a lot of hardships, as the communication was problematic and the airports on the islands were closed. “The island was nearly impossible to reach,” the group said about their visit.
Then they started transporting meals from their kitchen “80 miles away in Nassau to Abaco and surrounding islands in several helicopter trips each day.”
The day always starts with fresh ingredients in the #ChefsForBahamas kitchen! 🇧🇸 Today we are serving creamy braised turkey with vegetables over rice to those affected by Hurricane Dorian across the islands. pic.twitter.com/CKzHdv89NH
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) September 11, 2019
Andrés’ team was one of the first organizations that arrived in Abaco in the wake of the disaster, and is the only one providing fresh meals, according to the group, which is currently giving out 20,000 meals per day to “the makeshift shelters in the government center and schools, a hospital, clinics, churches and more.”
“The need in The Bahamas is big and logistics complex, so we need your help to make sure we can keep delivering meals to those affected,” the group says, asking people’s support. You can donate here to help World Central Kitchen with its efforts.
The group first actively worked in Haiti after 2010’s devastating earthquake.