New Hires
Trip Clark Maintenance Supervisor Trip joined the TCS Community in 2022 and has almost 20 years of experience in maintenance and HVAC.
Andre Jones Assistant Maintenance Supervisor Andre joined the Maintenance staff in October 2021 and has more than 14 years of maintenance and custodial experience.
Abhi Sai Executive Chef, FLIK Independent School Dining Abhi joined FLIK, TCS’s dining service, in January. He has worked at several local restaurants. After completing school, he had the opportunity to work in Chicago at GreenRiver, a Michelin Star Restaurant. After returning to St. Louis, he started his career with FLIK at Washington University supporting the Knight Banquets Centre.
Page 4 | Spring 2022
Feeding Those In Need
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but thousands of others were not nearly as lucky. Although metropolitan New Orleans was largely spared from the most devastating impacts of Ida, many surrounding, lower-lying areas sustained massive damage. Thousands of homes were decimated, and innumerable others severely damaged. Water, gas, and electrical lines were destroyed in many areas, and it would be weeks before many communities saw a return to these essential services. The storm damaged many bridges, severing the only land passage to some communities. Debris was rampant, with fallen trees obstructing roadways and hindering restoration efforts. Beyond the physical impact, the food supply came to a standstill, creating additional challenges for rescue workers and residents returning home. This was the scene in New Orleans when I arrived, one all-too-well remembered by residents who lived through Hurricane Katrina. Living out of my aunt’s house, I began to work with an organization that, by the After his time working with time I arrived, had already been on the ground working for more than WCK, Elliott embarked on a week. World Central Kitchen (WCK), a charity founded by celebrity creating his own line of hot chef José Andrés, rapidly mobilizes teams to respond to disasters with warm meals when they’re needed most. The organization arrived just sauces. days after the hurricane, bringing with them two trucks outfitted with mass-production kitchens. Setting up operations in a local culinary school, the WCK team began hiring local chefs, many of whom couldn’t return to their restaurants for weeks after the hurricane. In the days immediately following Ida, the team produced upwards of 30,000 meals a day for the New Orleans community. Everyone on the WCK team worked nearly 20 hours a day producing, delivering, and preparing each meal from scratch. Seeing the passion of everyone on the team, fueled by Monster Energy and donuts, was incredibly inspiring during such a dark period. I was lucky enough to lend a helping hand, starting as a volunteer and eventually being hired by WCK to work with their team during their time in New Orleans. By the end of their work in NOLA, WCK had served 500,000+ meals to a community slowly picking up the pieces. WCK was not the only organization that deployed in the aftermath of Ida. The Cajun Navy made it possible for WCK to access communities whose bridges had collapsed, taking speed boats full of food across the bayou. Operation BBQ Relief, Mercy Chefs, and others also mobilized with a relentless passion to ensure everyone in the community had a hot meal. Countless others assisted with removing debris, draining water from houses, covering damaged roofs with tarps, and clearing blocked roadways. Seeing so many from New Orleans and around the U.S. act with such genuine care was incredibly inspiring and humanizing. Fast forward several weeks, I had never driven a commercial truck before the 600 mile trip to Del Rio, Texas, and I quickly learned that my Prius handles very differently than a 7-ton kitchen-on-wheels. Luckily, the trip to Texas was without incident, and 13 hours later we arrived at the dusty border town suddenly home to 15,000 Haitian migrants. When the WCK team asked me to join their team in Texas, I instantly agreed. Food prepared by WCK staff Driven by a combination of political instability, natural disasters, pov- for distribution in New Orleans erty, and violence, thousands of migrants were making the yearslong trek through Central and South America towards the US. Many of those seeking asylum crossed in the same area near Del Rio and were now being detained under a bridge by U.S. Customs & Border Protection. When I arrived at the encampment, the conditions were squalid. Many were living in makeshift shacks fashioned from sticks found on the ground, without access to fresh food, water, or sanitary conditions. Thousands of migrants were crowded under the bridge, piled on top of each other in a manner more reminiscent of cattle than human beings. WCK went to work preparing thousands of hot meals a day, full of nutritious, fresh ingredients that were a far cry from the provided Army MRE rations. Burned into my memory are the grateful, tired faces of thousands of young children, infants, mothers, and families receiving hot food for the first time in days. In such a devastating situation, I was grateful for the ability to recognize their humanity in a small way. I hope that WCK was able to show them that despite their legal status, their dignity as humans remains unchanged. Each time a disaster occurs and people are in need, WCK responds immediately despite innumerable challenges. At the time of writing, WCK is at the Ukraine-Poland border serving thousands of daily meals to refugees. They responded to the earthquake in Tonga and continue to provide meals for the food-insecure here in the US. WCK is an organization worthy of your support if you are able and worthy of admiration from all of us. Working with WCK reminded me that in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, the power of communities is the ability to support each other, our neighbors both known and unknown.
