COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Hunger has many faces and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to ending it.
The Mid-Ohio Food Collective recognizes that and the Mid-Ohio Kitchen at the Reeb Center is tackling hunger one meal at a time. Jay Cotrell, Mid-Ohio Kitchen’s executive chef explained how the program works.
“We feed about 300 to 350 of our community members each day,” said Cotrell. “Monday through Friday, from 11 [a.m.] to 2 [p.m.] at no cost. And what we like to do is we strive to provide, a dignified dining experience, the same as you would get anywhere else without an exchange of money at the end.”
It’s a small but dedicated crew that makes it happen. So an extra hand on the line is much appreciated.
“We have a ‘Top Chef’ alumni here in the kitchen today,” said Cotrell. “But our team plays ‘Top Chef’ all the time. You never know exactly what’s going to get donated and so you have to have a team that’s going to be creative and flexible and talented to be able to bring all of this together for our community to take that tenfold increase and come in with something that you might not even know what you’re going to make and make something great out of it is really a testament to the team and the incredible volunteers that come in all the time.”
That “Top Chef” alumni, Avishar Barua executive chef and owner of Joya restaurant. A regular volunteer at the cafe.
“I’m trying to give back to the community by producing some delicious food for everybody in need, said Barua. “My first exposure to service was, I used to do things for the, at the time, it was the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. As part of our service commitment, we would go every week and actually feed as many people as possible.”
It was very nice. My parents are from Bangladesh. It’s a country that is poverty-stricken and, is not food secure. I’ve got the luxury of being born in America, so I didn’t experience it as much. So, they made it a big priority to make sure that whatever I could do, I could give back.”
And this Hunger Action Month the hope is for more people to get involved.
“We want to call our community members to action,” said Cotrell. “You know, whether we’re volunteering in one of our spaces, whether we’re making that donation, whether we’re telling our friends or whether we’re using our services, we want to engage or community in all those different spaces.”