World Central Kitchen: Providing Sustenance and Hope
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Thousands of Ukrainians have helped WCK serve nearly 180 million meals since February. Today, WCK’s @chefjoseandres was awarded the Order of Merit from President @ZelenskyyUa. This is a huge honor & our team is humbled to work side by side with Ukrainians to feed Ukrainians. 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/vHmgKLXrSH
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) November 21, 2022
A universally providing organization, World Central Kitchen (WCK), provides meals in response to various humanitarian, climate, and community crises. In the Russia-Ukraine War, World Central Kitchen is actively providing necessary resources like water and hot meals to suffering Ukrainian citizens who may lack access to water, energy, and basic nutritional sustenance.
Organization History and Purpose
From its foundation in 2010 in response to the devastating earthquakes in Haiti to now responding to the war in Ukraine, WCK’s purpose is to provide essential nutrients and provisions to families in need. Not just providing nourishment to those in need, WCK aims to inspire hope as well: “You see, food relief is not just a meal that keeps hunger away. It’s a plate of hope. It tells you in your darkest hour that someone, somewhere, cares about you” [1]. It is the belief at WCK that meals are central to communities, so a central effort of the organization includes rebuilding communities. World Central Kitchen has expanded immensely from its inception, spreading a humanitarian effort across the globe. WCK even acts before crises reveal themselves because they invest into their Food Producer Network to prepare for future conflicts to come. WCK describes access to food as “a universal human right” and works tirelessly to make their ideal a reality [1].
Humanitarian Efforts and ChefsForUkraine
In a heroic fashion, the World Central Kitchen began its operation in Ukraine just hours after the initial invasion – serving much needed meals at 24 hour stations in southern Poland [2]. The invasion of Ukraine has disrupted the lives of millions of citizens and has forced many to become refugees. With the strain on local food supply and Ukranians fleeing from their homes, the importance of access to nourishing and fulfilling meals has skyrocketed. Through the WCK’s operation, “ChefsForUkraine”, teams of WCK cooks from Ukraine and surrounding nations (Romania, Spain, Slovakia, Germany, and Moldova) have gathered to expand efforts in providing fresh meals and food kits to the affected civilians. As winter continues and thousands of Ukranians have to suffer due to damaged water and energy infrastructure, life essentials are growing in importance. [2] Not just providing hot meals and food kits to responders and impacted civilians, World Central Kitchen also targets their efforts on ensuring access to necessities like clean water. For example, following the invasion and subsequent liberation of Kherson, a relatively large city and regional economic center, many Ukrainian people were left without consistent access to clean water [3]. To combat this, WCK acted to create distribution points throughout the city – positioning nine 5,000-liter water reservoirs. On top of this, WCK further bolstered the city of Kherson by delivering a generator and fixing the broken water supply system, consequently allowing two thousand people from five nearby villages to have access to clean water!
WCK Water Reservoirs in Kherson
Chef Andrés with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv
Dear reader, we at Humanitarian Voices for Ukraine hope to inspire you to become involved as well. Please visit our “How to Help” page to learn more about how you can get involved!
On top of humanitarian efforts in Kherson and the Polish-Ukrainian border, the WCK’s team in Ukraine has also been active in major Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, and Lviv, delivering thousands of meals and food kits to various institutions (bomb shelters, hospitals, churches, etc.) and to people directly [2]. The Chefs For Ukraine operation has done exemplary work in fulfilling WCK’s purpose as an organization and providing a keystone of humanity through food to many affected civilians in Ukraine. Please consider supporting their cause and donating or becoming involved today!
References
[1] Andrés, José. “World Central Kitchen Story.” World Central Kitchen, wck.org/story.
[2] “#ChefsForUkraine.” World Central Kitchen, wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine.
[3] Andrés, José [chefjoseandres]. Twitter, 19 Nov. 2022, 6:30 AM, Twitter Post Link
[4] “WCK prepares to support Ukrainians through harsh winter.” World Central
Kitchen, 9 Nov. 2022, wck.org/news/ukraine-winter-update.
[5] Andrés, José. “Ground report from José in Kherson.” World Central Kitchen, 23
Nov. 2022, wck.org/news/jose-in-kherson.