"It's truly an honor to be able to serve firefighters during this difficult time. Being able to provide hot and ready meals to folks who have been working 24 hours a day to battle wildfire's, (it) makes me happy to be doing my part" says Sam Chapple-Sokol, who has been activated to help serve meals through World Central Kitchens (WCK) disaster relief work in California.

World Central Kitchen (WCK) uses the power of food to heal communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond. When disaster strikes, WCK's Chef Relief Team mobilizes to the frontlines with the urgency of now to start cooking and provide meals to people in need. Through different partnerships, WCK has developed across the nation, their teams have been able to jump into action to respond to multiple disasters at once. Currently, WCK is providing support to California's wildfires while preparing to shift their disaster relief workers to aid the Texas/Louisiana areas with hurricane relief.

However, their presence helping others in this area isn’t ending. WCK also provides foods to our local vulnerable communities through the Great Plates Delivered (GPD) program. GPD provides meals to those in need with the coordination of local restaurants. Through this program, Santa Clara County has helped vulnerable populations and introduced new economic opportunities to local establishments.

Founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés, World Central Kitchen uses food to connect and help communities during times of need. "With food, our team is providing hope and comfort to people in times of crisis. We will continue to support communities throughout the nation with much-needed meals," continues Sam Chapple-Sokol.

Additional information on this week’s #SiliconValleyStrongHeroes, World Central Kitchen, can be found at https://wck.org/programs. WCK is always happy to speak and work with our most vulnerable communities and you can contact them at info@wck.org.

For information on how you can access and find food resources in your neighborhood, visit bit.ly/SCCFoodMap. You can also visit siliconvalleystrong.org, call 2-1-1, a 24-hour multilingual service or text your zip code to “898211”.