My dear Friends

By John Kinsella, CMC, CCE, WGMC, AAC

This was my appeal to the chefs and cooks here in Cincinnati three days after Hurricane Katrina hit our Gulf states.

"As the national president of the American Culinary Federation, the largest group of chefs and cooks in the United States, and working with John Folse, CEC, AAC, president of the Research Chefs Association--our sister group of professionals--and a former ACF national president, I ask you to support our efforts to assist Chef Folse in his daily efforts to feed over 20,000 displaced citizens in Baton Rouge, La. To date, we have raised $2.6 million in food and other supplies. Each day, Chef Folse and the chefs and cooks of Baton Rouge are feeding meals to our fellow citizens, and they are trying to expand their efforts to feed as many people as they can daily."

Since then, we have seen an outpouring from our members, nonmembers and the chefs of our sister organizations that should make us proud of our profession.

This reminds me that we are all one second away from disaster, and we need to remember that we should care for each other on a daily basis. Yes, we are all so busy with our daily lives, but we need to remember that a person's human dignity is more important than any medal, prize, possession and, as our junior members refer to it, "our stuff." You and I need to be reminded that a good deed today will make a better tomorrow for people we may never meet, and it comes down to commitment by each of us to reach out to those less fortunate than ourselves.

Our daily lives can be enriched by teaching a new skill to someone who would never improve without it. Cooking in a homeless shelter is an eye-opening experience. The last time I participated at a homeless shelter, I was amazed to find hard-working Americans who cannot afford housing. And it devastated me to see a young mother, with her children sleeping on cots, sort out the clothes she would send them to school in the next morning, before she went to sleep. Also in these shelters are our veterans who have fallen on bad times and our heroes who were promised a home to come home to, who are lost in a busy society that has little time for the less fortunate.

What can we do as a federation? We need to become aware of what is happening to our members in our chapters. Every day, one of our members falls on hard times, whether it is a job loss, a death in the family, a sickness, or any of the calamities that could change their lives.

When my son died, I had an outpouring from my chapter members that was mind-boggling. It was as though they thought of everything before I did. At Simon's visitation, more than 500 people came to console Jean, my family and me, and, to say the least, it was overwhelming to see students, chefs and professionals from Simon's colleges and his graduate friends. It was a true moment of compassion, love and respect for our human dignity.

I know that every day in our chapters this is being repeated, and I know that because we are creative, we exemplify the true meaning of caring for each other. So when you see a fellow culinarian who looks down, please reach out and tell him or her that you care, and give a little of your time, and I guarantee that our membership will grow because we are a compassionate, creative, caring federation.

God bless you all.