UPDATED: October 25, 2017 at 3:47 P.M.
Twenty-one days after arriving in Puerto Rico to assist in Hurricane Maria relief efforts, Chef José Andrés and his team reached an amazing milestone – serving their one millionth meal on October 17.
As of Tuesday, that number was closer two million, far surpassing even the efforts of the Red Cross (which has given out an impressive 540,000 meals). Through the help of many volunteers, local chefs, and his own nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, Andrés has reached thousands of hungry people throughout Puerto Rico.
Andrés and his team have brought food trucks to children's hospitals and elderly centers, cooked giant vats of paella that fed up to 6,000 people at a time, and given away countless sandwiches and plates of pastelón to Puerto Ricans, many of whom are still without power.
Andrés told the New York Times today that his large-scale efforts will wind down this week. Many grocery stores and small restaurants have re-opened, and he doesn't want to hurt the economy by continuing to give out quite so much free food.
However, his organization will still assist with distributing non-perishable foods for the foreseeable future, as well as serving hot meals to the elderly, the sick, and people in remote areas.
While in Puerto Rico, Andrés has received support and donations from celebrities like Anthony Bourdain, Guy Fieri and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who have praised Andrés for his incredible work helping the people of Puerto Rico.
ORIGINAL POST: October 02, 2017 at 5:56 P.M.
Not long after making his way to Houston to help out after the devastation that Hurricane Harvey caused, José Andrés has taken his efforts to Puerto Rico. The celebrity chef and his team from World Central Kitchen touched down on the island shortly after it was decimated by Hurricane Maria.
Andrés recently made his way to the island and, for the past week, he's been updating his Twitter and Instagram accounts with photos and videos of himself and his team of chefs providing for the citizens of the U.S. territory. Since arriving, he's teamed up with local organizations to provide supplies for those in need and he's also teamed up with local food trucks, chefs, restaurants to feed as many people as possible with large portions of dishes like sandwiches, pastelon, and paella. The chefs involved are also delivering meals to those who are unable to get to the food trucks.
Andrés isn't a stranger to doing humanitarian work. The chef founded World Central Kitchen back in 2010 after the massive earthquake that struck Haiti and claimed the lives of over 300,000 people. Since the organization's establishment, World Central Kitchen has provided relief for multiple countries including Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Cambodia.
The impact that Hurricane Maria had on Puerto Rico was so brutal that the entire island is currently without electricity, and many citizens are in need of food and clean water. In addition, the hurricane also wiped out 80% of the country's agriculture, which is why Chef Andrés and his World Central Kitchen team are currently accepting donations so that food, fuel, and other supplies can be sent to Puerto Rico. The chefs have provided several thousand meals for the citizens of Puerto Rico since arriving on the island, but Andrés is updating his meal count daily via Twitter.
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