NORFOLK, Va.- As people leave Florida to escape Hurricane Ian, others are heading right into the path of the storm.
We spoke to the founder and president of Mercy Chefs who told us they’ve just opened a new storehouse to more rapidly assist communities in the eastern part of the country.
The Mercy Chefs team was most recently in Puerto Rico assisting after Hurricane Fiona hit the island, and before that, they were deployed in Mississippi supplying water to Jackson.
Now, they’re getting ready to head right into the storm as Hurricane Ian eyes Florida, gearing up their 30,000-square-foot warehouse near Huntsville, Alabama.
That's where they have their vehicles loaded up for pre-deployment, in addition to stockpiles of food, water, and other supplies ready to go to the people who need it the most.
From Texas, to across the Gulf Coast, and even up into the Mid-Atlantic, they’ll help communities across the eastern United States.
“We've been loading our equipment double checking our supplies. We had a mobile kitchen leave this morning. We had a full cook team fly into Tallahassee, so there'll be on site in Tallahassee tonight,” said Gary LeBlanc, the Mercy Chefs Founder & President. “We’ll have another kitchen and full team that will begin leaving tomorrow and will rally in the northern part of the state just as soon as it's safe to travel. We’ll start down to the heart of where the hurricane damage is.”
LeBlanc told us they would be on site as soon as they can, and they’ll be feeding not just victims, but also rescue, volunteer, and other emergency response teams.
He also told us you can actually follow them in real-time on their website.
And when we asked him what motivates them to keep running from place to place, he told us it’s always incredible to see what the power of a hot meal can do to create a few minutes of comfort for someone facing difficult circumstances.
