Even in the midst of the coronavirus shutdown, the kitchens of the Irving Convention Center (ICC) remained a hub of activity, albeit with a different purpose. The culinary staff at ICC helped feed furloughed hospitality industry workers in the Dallas area.

After restaurants around the country were forced to close their doors and send employees home, many in the restaurant and hotel industries were unsure about where their next meals would come from. So FestEvents Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports workforce development in the hospitality industry around the Dallas area, launched the Staff Meal program to help feed out-of-work employees. However, inadequate meal-prep space severely limited FestEvents' ability to meet the program's growing need.

The ICC learned about the Staff Meal program and immediately offered the venue's kitchen and staff to aid the work. "When FestEvents saw the kitchen space we had, they were amazed, and an exciting partnership was formed," said Tom Meehan, general manager at ICC. "Our location and capacity allowed the Staff Meal program to reach more people across a greater distance." So beginning in May, the ICC became the hub for the meal program, and soon after that ICC's executive chef, Eduardo Alvarez, began overseeing the meal-prep effort.

Local farmers, with nowhere else to distribute their meat and vegetables and wanting to help, eagerly donated to the program. Food was delivered to the convention center each Tuesday, and then on Wednesdays and Thursdays ICC culinary staff prepped and cooked the meals. On Fridays, workers spent the day carefully packaging all the meals and cooking instructions, and on Saturdays, volunteers helped distribute the meals from ICC's loading docks. Each meal kit contained a breakfast and lunch that could feed a family of four. At the peak of operation, the ICC's kitchen was prepping and distributing 300 meal kits, which equated to 2,400 meals per week. "After sitting empty since March, it was exciting for all of us to see some activity return to the convention center," Meehan said.

"This is one way we in the hospitality industry can support our own during these challenging times, and we are proud to offer our state-of-the-art kitchens and the expertise of our culinary team to partner with staffmeal.org in this effort," said Maura Gast, ICC's executive director. "Chef Alvarez and his colleagues are known for the innovation, variety, and quality they bring to the table at all ICC events, and they approach these meals with the same passion and standards of excellence."

Now that restaurants in Texas can operate at 75-percent capacity, the mission of Staff Meal has shifted to supporting restaurants as they reopen and no longer operates out of ICC. "However, if conditions change and the coronavirus forces restaurants to close again, we are prepared and willing to continue helping those workers in need," Meehan said. In the meantime, the ICC is preparing for summer and fall events and is anxious to see trade shows and events safely reopen. For more information about the program, visit www.staffmeal.org.