BOSTON (WHDH) - Local chefs volunteered their culinary skills on Monday to help a Jamaica-Plain-nonprofit that prepares meals for people across the region.
Restaurateurs from places like Eastern Standard, The Smoke Shop, and Bambara prepared meals with Community Servings, an organization that provides thousands of made-from-scratch meals a week to people with critical or chronic sickness.
Garrett Harker, who owns a number of popular local restaurants, sits on the organization’s board. He tapped into his vast network of fellow restaurateurs in the industry to come pitch in.
“I don’t have to do much,” Harker said. “I just tell these guys, ‘You’re gonna hang out with your colleagues in the kitchen and you’re gonna send out this nutritious, delicious food to those who really need it,’ and it’s really easy to activate.”
Those in the industry say that, in the day-to-day rush of the kitchen, it is easy to forget that their skills can help feed those who need it most.
“These are all really busy people with a lot of responsibilities but I think I’ve been able to sort of persuade them that it’s just so restorative and spiritually uplifting to come out and do what you already do but to do it for a great cause,” Harker said.
Monday’s event is a precursor to a large fundraiser for Community Servings happening later this month involving more than 80 local restaurants.
The event is expected to raise more than $800,000 for the group.
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