Sonoma Family Meal

Boosted by Restaurants and Chefs, Sonoma Family Meal Combats Hunger in Wine Country | Eater SF

"Born out of fire relief after the 2017 Tubbs Fire, Sonoma Family Meal grew from a haphazard effort to feed evacuees into a well-endowed nonprofit that both prepares for disasters and fights ongoing food insecurity in Sonoma County. I learned that Heather Irwin founded the effort by borrowing a restaurant kitchen and rallying chefs, farmers, and donors to produce tens of thousands of meals; the organization gained emergency nonprofit status, served roughly 20,000 meals early on and fed 70 displaced families for two years, and later provided 8,000 meals after the 2019 Kincade Fire. With a $1.3 million county grant and continued restaurant support (including payroll for cooks at 20 establishments), the group built a 3,100-square-foot community kitchen in a former seafood-processing plant, equipped with a tilt skillet, two hood ovens, three freezers, giant work tables and a walk-in freezer holding about 800 servings. Now operating with an approximately $440,000 budget in 2022, a full-time chef (Heather Ames) preparing weekly family meals and a CSA-style four-person box for $60/week, Sonoma Family Meal also rents commissary space, buys produce from farmers, distributes through partner organizations, and aims to add culinary job training for teens and the formerly incarcerated." - Eater