Turning the Table on Hunger

Using only the available donated ingredients, chefs from some of Oklahoma City’s finest restaurants will challenge each other to make healthy, tasty meals for people who are experiencing homelessness. The year-long challenge kicks off March 24 with Chef Kurt Fleischfresser cooking a meal for the approximately 275 guests at the Oklahoma City Day Shelter. The challenge is inspired by popular reality cooking competitions where chefs are required to create a meal in a limited amount of time using limited ingredients. On TV, chefs are challenged when the judges give them set ingredients to work with. The reality is that chefs at shelters across the country face this challenge every day. They have to get creative with what food has been donated and piece it together to make a complete meal. During the Turning the Table on Hunger challenge, chefs will visit the Day Shelter kitchen to preview available ingredients, have one day to develop recipes based off those ingredients and will arrive the next morning to prepare the meal. and serve approximately 275 guests. After the meal is complete, the chef will challenge another chef from a local restaurant to participate the next month. The Day Shelter located on the Westtown Homeless Resource Campus provides services to an average of 275 guests per day. Services include breakfast and lunch, showers, telephones and computers. In addition, guests at the day shelter have access to a variety of services from community agencies to assist guests with ending their homelessness including mental health and substance abuse treatment, primary healthcare, veterans services, budgeting support, case management, job training and placement. Donations are accepted through the Homeless Alliance www.homelessalliance.org Volunteers are needed to prepare and serve breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday. Volunteers can register through the United Way of Central Oklahoma’s Volunteer Center http://www.volunteercentraloklahoma.org/.