Chefs In Detroit Team Up To Provide More Than 20,000 Meals To City’s Homeless Shelters

Way to cook up a cure!

Detroit chefs have partnered to feed the city’s most vulnerable population during this global pandemic, the homeless.

According to The Grio, celebrity chef Maxcel Hardy of COOP Caribbean Fusion teamed up with award winning chefs across the city to help feed families living in homeless shelters, after suspending service at his restaurant due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Detroit is the Blackest city in the United States and has been impacted especially hard by the pandemic, with more than 8,500 residents testing positive for the virus. Realizing this, Hardy wanted to make sure his talents were put to use and benefitted those with the greatest need. 

“We’re just trying to do what we can to make sure that we take care of the most vulnerable folks here in Detroit, that being our homeless population. It goes to who we are as Detroiters, because we know if nobody else will do it and look out for us, we look out for ourselves,” Hardy said. 

The chefs have been cooking at the Horatio Williams Foundation, using the organization’s kitchen which is regularly stocked through donations from warehouses, restaurants, and distributors paying it forward. The kitchen has fed more than 9,000 people already, averaging about 400 daily. Culinary students have started volunteering and through Hardy and all the chefs’ efforts, more than 20,000 meals have been served in just 33 days. The Detroit native took to Instagram to thank everyone who made it possible. 

Hardy emphasized the importance of clean eating as a method for fighting the coronavirus. “If you’re malnourished and you’re not eating right, you’re not going to have a fighting chance against COVID-19. There’s so many other things that you need to fight against this, as well as the medical treatment. This is food that is absolutely going to the right place at the right time when we need it the most, dealing with this pandemic,” he told reporters at WDIV-TV.

Those who are homeless are more susceptible to contracting the virus without proper resources. Hardy joins other community activists like Terence Lester in Atlanta, who are doing whatever they can to help this population. 

Thank you for all you’re doing Chef Max!

Photo Courtesy of The Grio