Daily News New York City. March 29, 2020

DAILY NEWSNYDailyNews.com Sunday, March 29, 2020 19

CORONAVIRUS

The unlikely chefs preparing

2 ,000 daily meals for New

York’s homeless feel a certain

kinship with their hard-luck

clientele.

Much of the staff in the

City Beet Kitchen did jail

time, struggled in the ranks of

the unemployed or lived on

the street before finding re-

demption inside this Brook-

lyn kitchen.

An d n o t eve n t h e c o -

ronavirus pandemic can keep

them from doing their good

work so well.

“I feel like I’m just doing a

service,” said Derick Lewis,

the chef manager at City

Beet. “We’re helping people,

because we are in a state of

emergency. I’m healthy. If I

can help, I’m going to help.”

The attitude is contagious

at the business established by

Project Renewal more than

two decades ago.

No one among the 65-

strong staff is calling in sick,

and everyone’s pitching in to

prepare, deliver and serve the

food at 21 nonprofits city-

wide — most of them home-

less shelters.

City Beet is one of eight

su c h k i t c h e n s s c a t t e r e d

around the city.

“We’re in the midst, obvi-

ously, of an incredible crisis,”

said Barbara Hughes, execu-

tive director at City Beet.

“People need to be fed. I’m

proud to say we’re on the

road, we’re delivering food.

We’re just going to keep it

rolling.”

Lewis, 54, spent nearly

half his life behind bars be-

fore finding a career and a

cause as a chef.

“I did 21 and a half years in

prison, and when they gave

me a shot to come through

the door I took advantage,”

said Lewis, who works out of

Industry City in Sunset Park.

His colleague, executive

ch e f A n t h o ny O ’C o n n o r,

notes the operation steers

clear of the usual job appli-

cants with gaudy resumes

and a working knowledge of

the business. “A lot of our

guys and girls that we employ

never worked before, don’t

have a work history, don’t

have a work ethic,” explains

O’Connor, 52. “So it’s hard for

them to adjust.”

But adjust they do: “We

have a great staff here that’s

committed to the mission,”

said O’Connor.

Most of the cooks are up by

4 a.m. to start their morning

commutes, with some trav-

eling from the Bronx and Far

Rockaway, Queens, despite

reduced subway service and

fears of infection. Their

workload has increased dur-

ing the ongoing health crisis

as shelters opened their

doors to more New Yorkers

in need.

But so did their commit-

ment to the work.

“All of us are grateful we

still have a job,” said Lewis.

“We are very lucky to be

working. Nobody wants to

get sick. We all wear masks.

We keep our social distance.”

The meals are made fol-

lowing the same nutritional

guidelines used by New York

City’s public schools, with

the chefs keeping an eye on

the sodium content. Typical

fare includes stew, fish, and

soups.

Amie Pospisil, vice presi-

dent of a nonprofit that pro-

vides housing and other serv-

ices to the city ’s dispos-

sessed, never worries about

whether the day’s meals are

coming.

“Rain, shine, hurricane —

whatever the case, they pro-

vi d e m e a l s f o r u s,” s a i d

Pospisil, whose organization

Breaking Ground hosts over

3 00 people who are chroni-

cally homeless. “Their busi-

ness doesn’t stop. They’ve

really been fantastic partners

in that way.”

According to Hughes, the

arrival of COVID-19 changed

things a bit. There’s a lot

more attention to sanitizing,

and a little more nervous

lo o k s w h e n s o m e b o d y

coughs or sneezes. And keep-

ing the suggested 6-foot so-

cial distancing is a little

tougher in the kitchen than

in the average workspace.

But the job itself remains

the same for the folks on the

front lines while keeping

some degree of normalcy in

these abnormal times.

“This is who we are,” said

Hughes. “We’re out there.

People have to eat. We’re

feeding people that can’t stay

at home, they’re in the shel-

ter, they can’t call a delivery

service and get their food

from a restaurant. They don’t

have the money to do that.

“We’re feeding people that

are in need. We’re fighting

the good fight.”

City Beet Kitchen in

Brooklyn cooks up 2,

meals a day for New

York’s neediest.

Leaders Anthony

O’Connor and Derick

Lewis (inset) say they

won’t stop despite the

added risk.

/JESSE WARD/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

BY MARCO POGGIO

AND LARRY MCSHANE

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

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