My guest today is Heidi Andermack of Chowgirls Killer Catering. Started in 2004 with her associate Amy Brown, Chowgirls became the first "green" catering company in the state of Minnesota. Their fierce dedication to sustainable practices and quality service has won them accolades both regionally and nationally.
As expected, COVID-19 proved to be a major disruption for the company: operations had to change overnight. Their most notable pivot was helping a new initiative get off the ground called Minnesota Central Kitchen, which is a program hosted by Second Harvest Heartland and aided by Chowgirls plus several other businesses. Heidi represents a new generation of business owners who've been pushed to the edge by our global pandemic; only to come back, more resilient than ever.
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Here's how you can help and/or get involved with Chowgirls and Minnesota Central Kitchen.
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Minnesota Central Kitchen: Want to take part in MCK's mission to feed those who need it most? One of the best ways to do that is to donate at this link: https://bit.ly/DonateMCK. If you own a company and want to get involved yourself, contact them here: https://bit.ly/GetInvolvedMCK.
Want to simply learn more about what MCK does? Check that out here: https://bit.ly/LearnMoreMCK.
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Chowgirls Killer Catering: If you're looking to help Chowgirls directly, you have a few ways to do that. First, if you're interested in volunteering in the kitchen, reach out through this email: cook@chowgirls.net. If you have supplies to personally donate – gloves, plastic baggies, parchment paper, Clorox wipes, etc. – you can arrange that via donation@chowgirls.net.
Looking to book an event with Chowgirls in the "foreseeable" future? Not sure if that's even possible? Learn more about how they're moving forward here: https://www.chowgirls.net/covid_response.
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Meal Connect: Chowgirls is also heavily promoting Feeding America's Meal Connect program, which connects vendors with surplus foodstuffs with food banks, soup kitchens, and other organizations that need it most. Learn more about that here: https://mealconnect.org/.