NHC Sheriff’s Office mobile field kitchen returns after serving thousands of hot meals in western NC
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — It’s been nearly a month since Helene hit western North Carolina and the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office has been out there, making sure people had hot meals to enjoy.
The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office mobile field kitchen went to Mitchell County on October 8th to help following Helene’s deadly visit to the western part of the state.
Over 11 days, the kitchen served 4,552 hot meals from French toast and eggs to sandwiches and fries.
They gave meals to civilians and anyone there helping with rescue and recovery operations.
Detective Jonathan Vickers is the commander of the kitchen.
He worked as an executive chef in Wilmington before joining the sheriff’s office.
He understands what receiving a hot meal can do for people trying to recover following a natural disaster.
“It meant the world to me and my team, you know,” Vickers said. “We were there, like I said, we experienced this back in Florence where we were just working the streets or whatever maybe. We didn’t know how we were going to get food except what we just had on ourselves. And after long hours, just having a hot meal, no matter if you’ve been away for college or you’re in a natural disaster, just having a hot, home-cooked meal just makes the world.”
This was the first time the kitchen had been deployed since the sheriff’s office got it last year.
Jerry Brewer is a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office.
He said the idea for a mobile field kitchen started 6 years ago following the Cape Fear’s recovery efforts from a hurricane.
“It really came into sight during Florence,” Brewer said. “We had a sheriff from Alabama come up, unbeknownst to us, on Sunday and just pulled into our parking lot and said we’re going to start feeding you guys 3 hot meals a day. Which was just pivotal for us getting through. It was a blessing for them to come here.”
Vickers said the kitchen might be deployed again to western North Carolina and he’d be willing to continue helping out as much as possible.
