Professional Chefs Serve Burgers Out of The Salvation Army's Canteens

“We’re grateful to The Salvation Army for lending their trucks and letting us do some cooking,” said Nafees Alam, Vice President of DRG Concepts.

On a hot sunny day in Moore, Oklahoma, tornado victims stopping by the Multi-Agency Resource Center were greeted by savory smells drifting from the mobile kitchens inside The Salvation Army’s canteens.

“Everybody wants to help, wants to give, and for us it was a natural,” explained Fran Gallagher of DRG Concepts.

The burgers were straight out of Dallas, compliments of Chop House Burger located downtown. Four professional chefs got up bright and early in order to make the three hour drive and have hot-off-the-grill burgers ready by noon.

Working out of a mobile kitchen is not normal for the guest chefs, but that didn’t seem to be a problem.

“You make this look easy. Everything is set up, lined up,” Alam said of the canteen.

“For our chefs here, they’re working in this truck on commercial kitchen equipment. They’re not trying to make do with what you [The Salvation Army] have available. Our chefs work on equipment like this every day. They know the stove, they know the temperature, and this helps them to get the burger right every time,” says AJ Joglekar, Corporate Executive Chef.

The fresh burgers took time to cook, but guests didn’t seem to mind. By day’s end 985 people had been served.

For the canteen guests who traveled three hours one way to serve tornado victims, it was a trip well-worth the time on the road.

“…just seeing the devastation on the way in, that’s going to stay on my mind a long, long time. This has been a really humbling experience,” said Gallagher.

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GOT FRESH FOOD TO DONATE?

The Salvation Army chefs rely on donations of fresh foods. Without these donations, they’re forced to use precious Salvation Army resources to buy what they need. Salvation Army food shelves experience the same thing.

You can help by donating fresh produce and other perishables. Simply call your local Salvation Army and ask what they need. If you’ve got a green thumb, donating won’t cost you a dime – simply plant an extra row of veggies in your garden and donate the abundance.

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HIGH-PROFILE CHEF JOINS SALVATION ARMY

 

The following was originally featured on The Salvation Army Northern Division‘s website and later covered by Local News KARE11 in St. Paul, MN. 

Jeff Ansorge had spent eight years as executive chef at one of the finest and most prestigious restaurants in Minneapolis. But when he became a Christian two years ago, he just couldn’t do the job anymore. Something had changed.

“The world as I had known it stopped making sense,” said Jeff, 40. “I was working to drive profit and my whole being – physically and mentally – was rejecting it. I needed to do something with my culinary skills to serve the Lord.”

Today he’s doing just that as head chef at the St. Paul Payne Ave. Salvation Army, where he cooks free hot lunches for about 100 people per day.

Jeff started working there in October 2012. He soon discovered the job is every bit as challenging as his old one because – like all Salvation Army chefs – he never knows what meals he’ll be cooking from one day to the next.

“We have to adapt to whatever food arrives on the loading dock every morning,” said Jeff, who has associate and bachelor’s degrees in culinary arts and food service management, respectively. “I love the challenge.”

One day, he received a delicious (and atypical) donation: a case of crab. With some quick thinking, he began cooking the crustaceans with an assortment of vegetables, sausages, seafood and rice. That day, the homeless and working poor would enjoy a Spanish delicacy: seafood paella.

Jeff relies on the support of volunteer cooks and community service workers, opening their shift with a Christian devotional and – as a thank you – a brief cooking lesson on the day’s lunch. Beyond cooking, he enjoys the job because he’s free to express his faith to the people he serves and the volunteers who help him out.

“I’m doing what I love, for people I love, for the person I love – Jesus Christ,” Jeff said.

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Chefs for Hope Program Provides Life-Changing Culinary Education

“If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”



This is the philosophy that inspired The Salvation Army’s Culinary Training Program in Louisville, KY, an intensive 10-week course which offers individuals who are struggling with homelessness, poverty and addiction, the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to obtain an entry level position in the culinary industry.

Upon completion of the course, culinary students have the opportunity to work with the city’s top chefs in creating a six-course meal for the annual Chef’s for Hope gala that raises essential funds for the program. With 125 foodies in attendance at last week’s gala, the event raised approximately $31,000 which will support two 10-week sessions this year.

“Students in this program take the opportunity and run with it,” said Lanham. “Chefs for Hope is really changing lives.”

Read more here.

Source: blog.salvationarmyusa.org

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