(Resource BlackNews.com)
DETROIT, MI — Celebrity chef Maxcel Hardy has joined forces with several other chefs in Detroit to help feed families living in shelters amidst the coronavirus pandemic. They have so far produced over 20,000 meals in a month.
With the ongoing health crisis, several businesses have been affected, including Hardy’s COOP Caribbean Fusion restaurant in Detroit which has been temporarily closed. Despite that, Hardy continued cooking, this time for the city’s homeless families.
“We’re just trying to do what we can to make sure that we take care of most vulnerable folks here in Detroit, that being our homeless population,” Hardy, a lifelong Detroit resident, told Detroit, which is a majority Black city, currently has more than 8,500 COVID-19 cases. Of the city’s population that is tormented by poverty, Hardy believes that those who are homeless are even more exposed to the virus.
“If you’re malnourished and you’re not eating right, you’re not going to have a fighting chance against COVID-19,” Hardy said.
Along with the Horatio Williams Foundation, they have made 20,221 meals in 33 days. More than 9,000 people have been fed so far, averaging around 400 per day.
Food donations from restaurants, warehouses, and distributors came rushing in to provide stocks for the initiative. Culinary students also joined to volunteer in the kitchen.
“It goes to who we are as Detroiters, because we know if nobody else will do it and look out for “us, we look out for ourselves,” Hardy said.
