by Joan Perry | Contributing Writer
They might not look like traditional elves, but they manage a busy workshop filled with happy chaos, they checklists, and fill something more important than stockings all year round. They fill hungry bellies.
Both West Ashley residents, Chef Emily Cookson and Kitchen Associate Mary Beth Fechhelm, lead meal preparation in the Zucker Family Production Kitchen at the Lowcountry Food Bank on Azalea Drive. Along with their team of 40 volunteers, they prepared a staggering 227,919 meals in 2022. The meals go to kids in afterschool programs and summer camps, veterans, and are delivered to homebound adults.
I’ve spent a great part of my life working with and benefiting from incredible volunteers who, it turns out, are good life role models. When I had free time and was ready to give back myself, I started popping into the Lowcountry Food Bank warehouse to lend a hand bagging sweet potatoes and apples. The processing was online and efficient, and the warehouse scheduling was flexible. Soon learning there was a need for regular support in the kitchen, I thought it was worth a try. I’d never worked in food service before, so the big commercial kitchen with the giant clanking pans and equipment was all new to me.
The scale and efficiency of the operation is seriously mind-boggling. Chopping veggies, seasoning and baking trays of food, operating the dishwasher, filling meal trays production line style, sealing and packing, sweeping, wiping, cleaning and washing pans on a huge scale happens every day of the week, along with peels of laughter over the din of noisy equipment. The Chefs work closely with their Nutrition team to pack as much good nutrition as possible into the meals and make every attempt to make them appealing and delicious.
Anyone who has worked with or as a volunteer, knows this isn’t easy to pull off. I chatted with fellow volunteers as we dished up meal trays production-line style, and learned they had been reporting for duty for seven, ten and more years. Some had served since the kitchen opened in 2010. I was and will continue to be the newbie.
Executive Chef Emily Cookson has lived West Ashley for most of her adult life and was well known as a high level pastry chef in Charleston restaurants for over fifteen years. She had participated in the Lowcountry Food Bank’s annual fundraiser – the Chefs’ Feast, that supports childhood feeding programs, so was familiar with and supported their mission. She started volunteering one afternoon a week and continued for over five years. When the previous Chef left to teach culinary arts at the Military Magnet, she tossed her hat in the ring.
Emily explained, “When you work in fine dining, the food is the celebration. It is over-the-top, and an event in its own right. It’s easy to forget that food is a basic necessity that keeps us living and thriving. Too many of our neighbors don’t have consistent access to food.”
Kitchen Associate Mary Beth Fechhelm moved to Charleston in 1995 and to West Ashley in 1997. She officially retired from the workforce in 2012, and was enjoying trying various volunteer roles while spending as much time as possible with her husband and extended family.
In 2018, she was ready for a change and as I did, she stumbled on the need for volunteers in the Lowcountry Food Bank kitchen while doing an online search. She started lending a hand as a Monday morning volunteer. She found she enjoyed the work and camaraderie with the team and began to look forward to Monday mornings.
In 2022 Mary Beth was ready to look for the perfect part time job and asked Chef Emily if she would serve as a reference. Not long afterwards, there was a vacant position for a part time Kitchen Associate that turned out to be a perfect fit.
She said, “Chef Emily fosters a positive working atmosphere for her team and there is a great sense of accomplishment with all the meal preparation, packaging and clean up. It feels like a privilege to work in the Zucker Family Production Kitchen preparing the delicious and nutritious meals for our community and neighbors in need. It really is my happy place.”
When I finish my kitchen shift on Monday mornings, my first thought as I walk to my car is the luxury of wondering what I’ll have for lunch. I can’t imagine if that wasn’t just the happy consideration of what I wanted to eat, but instead was the desperation of not knowing what and where I needed to find food. I have been hungry in my life, but for very short periods and every time, someone helped. I will never forget them.
There are many ways to support the Lowcountry Food Bank. Besides volunteer roles in the warehouse, kitchen and event participation, donations and food drives are welcome. Explore their website at: https://lowcountryfoodbank.org/ for more information.
Stay healthy my friends, and wave at me as I wander. Send ideas for upcoming columns to westashleywanderer@gmail.com
