PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Another year is coming to an end.
A lot of big events happened in 2023, both around the country and the world, and Portsmouth-based nonprofit Mercy Chefs played in a big role in helping people through some of them.
News
Portsmouth-based Mercy Chefs serves more than 12,000 hot meals in Israel
“It’s been an incredible year of growth and impact," said Mercy Chefs Founder and CEO Gary LeBlanc.
To say 2023 was been a busy year for the nonprofit may be an understatement.
“We’re still working in Ukraine actively. We responded to the earthquakes in Turkey and then, of course, the war in Israel," LeBlanc said.
That’s just a small portion of the international response.
In April, News 3 spoke with LeBlanc as the nonprofit was responding to Arkansas to help people impacted by tornadoes.
News
Portsmouth Mercy Chefs responding in Arkansas after tornadoes
Mercy Chefs responded to tornadoes in Texas in June and wildfires in Hawaii in August.
“This year, Mercy Chefs got to touch over 1.2 million people with a meal," Leblanc emphasized.
While no one knows how or when Mercy Chefs may need to respond in 2024, the nonprofit will have plenty to keep busy with in the new year in the meantime.
“In 2024, we’re going to add another community kitchen in Lahaina, (Hawaii), where we continue to work in the wake of that wildfire that destroyed the village so we can support them in the long run in their rebuilding," LeBlanc explained. "Then, our training base and teaching kitchen in Comayagua, Honduras will begin to bring in pastors and community leaders from all over Latin America. We’ll begin to train them in food safety, sanitation, how to use food as an outreach tool and how to meet the needs of their communities.”
LeBlanc said thinking about everything going on is like being in a dream, a dream beyond his wildest imagination.
