The chef and World Central Kitchen are on the ground providing food relief in the Lebanese capital after last week’s fatal explosion there.

Cliff Owen / AP Photo

After a pair of devastating explosions rocked Beirut last Tuesday, killing at least 200 people and leaving thousands injured, the D.C.-based World Central Kitchen sprang into action.

The nonprofit organization, which was founded in 2010 by celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés, quickly mounted a response to the catastrophe. It mobilized a team in Lebanon and sent its director of field operations, Sam Bloch, to the capital city.

“Much of the city is covered in broken glass & thousands of volunteers are in the streets helping to clean,” World Central Kitchen tweeted two days after the explosions. The nonprofit partnered with famed Beirut chef Kamal Mouzawak — who, like Andrés, is also known for his charitable work — to deliver 800 Lebanese dishes and sandwiches to local hospitals, elderly residents, and first responders within its first 24 hours on the ground.

In addition to Mouzawak’s Tawlet restaurant, a few other Beirut establishments joined in World Central Kitchen’s food-relief efforts. Since last week, they have collectively provided thousands of meals at numerous locations across the coastal city, according to the nonprofit.

“By working with restaurants in the community, we can support the local economy, which is especially critical now as small businesses have struggled so much during the pandemic and the financial crisis,” World Central Kitchen said in an Aug. 7 release. “The Lebanese lira has lost over 80% of its value and many stores cannot even afford to keep food on the shelves.”

While this is far from the first time Andrés organization has provided humanitarian aid in the aftermath of disaster — in recent memory, it helped feed passengers on a cruise ship beset by COVID-19 as well as survivors of various hurricanes — it’s now responding to compounding crises in Lebanon in the context of alleged endemic corruption. This week, as Lebanese citizens protested in the streets of Beirut and clashed with police, the ruling government stepped down. Authorities are still investigating the circumstances of the blasts, which were reportedly fueled by 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate held at the city’s port.

Andrés, who also heads the major ThinkFoodGroup restaurant group, arrived in Beirut himself earlier this week. (He said he went through two COVID-19 tests on his way.) In a video posted on his Twitter account Monday, he reflected on the difficult situation facing the city.

“You have to create the systems to feed people every single day … and probably this is gonna be for weeks until everybody goes back to whatever ‘normal’ means,” he said.

The international community has pledged to provide accelerated aid to Lebanon. The Lebanese community in the D.C. area is playing its part too: Local organizations and restaurants are putting on fundraisers and collecting donations for the overall relief effort.

Filed Under: Beirut, disaster relief, jose andres, lebanon, meal distribution, world central kitchen,