PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — The Portsmouth-based relief organization Mercy Chefs just reached a major milestone. Volunteers say they’ve served more than 200,000 meals to hurricane victims in the Fort Myers, Florida community.
“It’s just been amazing; our team has never cooked this many meals before and it’s been such a big deployment in Ft. Myers. So we have everybody in the field with us on this deployment. Our team has worked so hard to get these meals out,” said Gary LeBlanc, Founder and CEO of Mercy Chefs, INC.
The hot meals included pork loin, fresh fruit, mashed potatoes and bread.
The founder of Mercy Chefs says his workers have cooked more meals for this disaster than any other in the past. In one day alone, they handed out more than 23,000 meals.
The need along the central Gulf Coast of Florida remains high as thousands have lost their homes.
Mercy Chefs has more than 20 team members working with the Florida State Emergency Management. The charity relies on private donations and contributions from food companies such as Omaha Steaks and Smithfield Foods.
Because of the need in Florida, Mercy Chefs is exploring buying a more-permanent building that can be used to feed storm victims.
To support Mercy Chefs in its current relief efforts, visit https://mercychefs.com/hurricane-ian/.
