Thousands fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine are being fed by one of D.C.鈥檚 most famous chefs as they cross the border. Jos茅 Andr茅s is on the ground in Poland with his nonprofit World Central Kitchen.
Friday evening, World Central Kitchen began serving hot meals at a 24-hour pedestrian border crossing in southern Poland and Andr茅s was en route to the border near Przemy艣l, Poland. 听
On Sunday, he posted a video to Twitter describing the scene:
鈥淭here is this road that people come from Ukraine. Ukraine is like 500 meters to my back 鈥� and what you’re gonna see is that people don’t stop arriving” he said in a tweet.
“People are cold. Families are cold, they carry with them whatever they can bring 鈥� It鈥檚 freezing cold and I don’t know how people make it.鈥�
People of the World鈥eporting from the Ukraine border! This is one of the places has hot meals. It is below freezing tonight & I am meeting so many refugees, families who are escaping & don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 next鈥e will do our best not to let them down!
鈥� Jos茅 Andr茅s (@chefjoseandres)
At that site alone, Andr茅s said they had served over 8,000 meals.
World Central Kitchen has numerous other feeding sites set up along the Polish border, serving everything from chicken, rice and vegetables, to thick stews and ramen.
They are also setting up stations to get hot meals on the Romanian, Moldovan, Slovakian and Hungarian borders for hungry refugees.
鈥淩emember there is a lot of roads that leave Ukraine,鈥� Andr茅s told his Twitter followers.
The group is also partnering with restaurants inside Ukraine. Yourz Space Bistro cooked 1,000 meals Sunday for residents stuck in Odessa. They also have restaurants up and running in the western city of Lviv.
First meals in Odessa Ukraine! This is Chef Aleksander Yourz鈥is team at Yourz Space Bistro cooked 1,000 meals today for residents stuck in Odessa & Ukrainians defending the city! Only a start鈥擶CK is supporting chefs in many cities to feed the hungry!
鈥� Jos茅 Andr茅s (@chefjoseandres)
鈥淲e’re telling them guys there’s many ways to fight. So people find us making sure that people are fed. And those are our people and we’re gonna be supporting them in many ways,鈥� Andr茅s said.
On Friday, Andr茅s announced that he would spend $2 to $5 million on the efforts. The funding comes from a $100 million grant the nonprofit received from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
People of the World鈥ike you, I am distraught watching Ukraine under attack. We must come together as a force for good! is on Poland border delivering meals tonight鈥擱omania soon. In addition to your donations鈥 am committing support from the Bezos award to Ukraine.🇺🇦
鈥� Jos茅 Andr茅s (@chefjoseandres)
鈥淲e want to make sure that nobody’s going hungry and we show the respect they deserve,鈥� Andr茅s said when he made the announcement.
