Cooking for a Cause

Marty Smith has always been passionate about giving back to his community but wanted to find a way to include his six-year-old twins in the act of impacting their community in a positive way. So they started cooking.

‘I gave myself the challenge of cooking through a cookbook and included the kids in the cooking,’ says Marty. ‘They have a good time and hang out with dad, which is great; but then we started to think about who we could cook for.’

Marty and the kids initially completed recipes for family, friends and neighbours, but as contacts depleted, Marty’s scope grew: ‘I saw an article that said The Salvation Army had reported an increase in the number of people asking for food parcels, so I picked up the phone and asked the local centre if they had any families I could cook for.’

The Salvation Army began nominating families to Marty who had come to the Sallies for food parcels, because of long-term illness or for help with their budgets. Marty provides each family with a menu that includes four diff erent options for an appetiser, entree, main and dessert. He then creates a delicious four-course meal delivered to the family’s door complete with handmade cards from his children. Marty decided to call his initiative ‘Chefs for Compassion’.

‘We do this as a treat for the families who otherwise never would get to experience a roast duck or crayfish dinner,’ says Marty. ‘Nothing is spared and the families are treated like VIPs — like they’re our best friends. It’s really humbling to be able to create this kind of memory with the family and be part of it with them.’

‘The biggest agenda of Chefs for Compassion is enriching people’s lives,’ commented Dee McColl, Salvation Army centre manager. ‘It’s honouring—clients come to us and are so blown away. We have already seen so many people’s confidence and self worth grow so much when they are blessed with this opportunity.’

Marty will continue Chefs for Compassion after he completes his initial challenge and even plans to extend it to include other people similarly passionate about giving back to their respective communities. His greatest goal, he says, is to see the next generation ‘get’ compassion even just a little bit more.

Contact

If you would like to learn more about Chefs for Compassion or become involved in the project, please email Marty Smith