WCK and the Elders of WLBOTT

Elders – in lieu of holiday presents, we’ve made a contribution to World Central Kitchen (WCK) in honor of the Elders to be used to provide food in places like Gaza and Ukraine. I’ve been following WCK for years and believe it is a worthy cause to be associated with WLBOTT – food to those in need. Happy holidays!
UC#3

To UC#3, we say:

World Central Kitchen (WCK)

“WCK is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises.”
– WCK

World Central Kitchen (WCK) is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization devoted to providing meals in the wake of natural disasters. Founded in 2010 by chef José Andrés, the organization prepared food in Haiti following its devastating earthquake. Its method of operations is to be a first responder and then to collaborate and galvanize solutions with local chefs to solve the problem of hunger, immediately following a disaster.
Wikipedia

World Central Kitchen: Ukraine

World Central Kitchen founder Chef José Andrés receives the 2023 Humanitarian Impact Award.
– Center for European Policy Analysis

You can read an extended interview between Alina Polyakova. President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis and Chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen here. They discuss WCK’s impact in Ukraine.

Russian Missile Attack on WCK

A charity kitchen in Ukraine linked to chef José Andrés was destroyed by a missile

A charity kitchen in Ukraine linked to celebrity chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen was destroyed by a missile, according to a tweet from the nonprofit’s CEO, Nate Mook.

The nonprofit has been on the ground serving families fleeing Ukraine since the day after the Russian invasion began. – NPR

The Russians sent a missile into a WCK kitchen in Kharkiv on April 15th, 2022.

An update I hoped I’d never have to make. I’m at a @WCKitchen restaurant in Kharkiv, where less than 24 hours ago I was meeting with their amazing team. Today, a missile stuck. 4 staff were wounded. This is the reality here—cooking is a heroic act of bravery.
– Nate Mook, CEO of WCK.

“Just a tremendous amount of carnage left behind for no reason,” Mook added. “In this area, there are offices, there are residences. People live here, people work here, people cook here and that’s it … absolutely horrific brutality.” – Nate Mook (People Magazine)

Light and Dark

José Andrés is a celebrity chef, but he’s much more than that: He’s a real hombre. The word “hombre” is particularly apt in that José Andrés is an American who began life in Spain. Throughout the current war, he has been in Ukraine, feeding people…. I believe that, when he returns home, he should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Jay Nordlinger, National Review

World Central Kitchen: Gaza

WCK Relief Kitchen opens in Gaza

World Central Kitchen, alongside our partners, has provided more than 11.5 million meals in the region in the form of freshly prepared, hot meals and food kits. We have overcome immense challenges to begin cooking from WCK’s first Relief Kitchen in Gaza. Through our kitchen and those of our partners, we are quickly scaling our capacity to cook for people fleeing for their lives. – WCK