Cooking for good

No doubt you have heard about the devasting fires in northern California, and the dire situation facing the residents of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. What you might not have known is that two celebrity chefs have jumped in to help the people affected by those disasters. With all of the bad news being reported in recent weeks, it’s heartwarming to learn that chefs are among the first to respond.

In Puerto Rico, chef José Andrés has led efforts by the nonprofit World Central Kitchen to help feed those left homeless and otherwise adversely affected by the deadly storm that swept across the small island, home to nearly 3.5 million people. As of last week, World Central Kitchen had served over  450,000 meals to families, an average of 50,000 meals produced per day. You can follow the progress of the organization with the hashtag #ChefsForPuertoRico on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Turning to California, we learn that Santa Rosa resident Guy Fieri is firing up his barbecue smoker to provide over 3,500 meals to first responders and those evacuated from their homes. Fieri and his family were among those evacuated from their homes due to the massive wildfires. “We had to evacuate at two in the morning, and we grabbed what we could, taking pictures off the wall as fast as we could. Jumped in the truck, loaded in the dogs, and away we went,” the chef told television station KQED.  Fieri has lived in Santa Rosa since the 1990s, and opened his first restaurant, Johnny Garlic’s, there in 1996.