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Writer's pictureErika Andresen

Hope for Businesses After a Disaster: Asheville and World Central Kitchen

If you haven't been paying attention, I live in Asheville, NC. Business continuity is difficult after a catostrophic event has occurred but no less important. There are organizations that help small businesses with more immediate impact. One is World Central Kitchen (WCK).


Last week I volunteered with WCK in Asheville. I have been a fan of Jose Andres and his WCK for years, especially after what he did during Hurricane Maria. He details his actions to inject money immediately back into the economy for mom and pop shops in his book We Fed An Island. It was no different for Asheville's businesses.


I witnessed two examples in one day of how Jose doesn't just work donations, he spends. While riding around downtown (which isn't big) he saw a coffee truck operating. When he got back to operations at Bear's Smokehouse - where WCK set up and we were making sandwiches to be helicoptered out to hard to reach places and then switching over to setting up service for locals - he told one of his managers to find that truck, tell the owner he wants to buy all of his coffee, and have him show up there the next day to serve it for free. People are giving away stuff because it is going to waste without power and instead of inviting the coffee truck owner to re-locate, the owner was going to be compensated.


The other example is WCK asked my neighbors - who run an adjacent business to Bear's and have a warehouse - if they donated (they are not a small business at all) some space so WCK can store things coming in, they would pay all of their workers who knew how to drive a fork lift to move materials for them in the warehouse a day rate (I won't say what it is, but I know what it is and it was extremely fair).


From a business continuity mindset, WCK has a duel mission: the feed people and lift up to community...through food in bellies and money to help fill those bellies. The WCK model isn't just to swoop in and help, but make sure businesses have a leg to stand on when WCK leaves.


I was so proud to be able to take part in something so magnificent and see with my own eyes how WCK impacts my community.


*that is me on AC360 on CNN -- well my back at the table where the arrow is pointing.





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