One of the things that warm my heart is witnessing people and organisations go above and beyond the call of duty to undertake important work.

Imtiaz Sooliman and his team at Gift of the Givers, CRC church through CRC Cares collect and donate food parcels to destitute communities, such as those affected by the KZN floods and July 2021 riots, Marc Bastos, a celebrity hairstylist who spends his Sundays giving free haircuts to the city’s homeless people, these are people and organisations that go beyond their professional expectations to do work that matters.

When he begins his TED talk on the topic: We need to talk about an injustice, Bryan Stevenson says:

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If you’re a teacher your words can be meaningful, but if you’re a compassionate teacher, they can be especially meaningful. If you’re a doctor you can do some good things, but if you’re a caring doctor you can do some other things.

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There are chefs and then there are chefs who do work that truly matters.

Chef José Andrés is one of those chefs who do work that truly matters.

He is a Spanish-American chef famous for his efforts to feed victims of catastrophes and other emergencies. Chef Andrés and his crew at World Central Kitchen have fed millions of people in the aftermath of natural disasters and other calamities in the United States and other countries, including Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas.

The response that Chef José Andrés and his team at the World Central Kitchen provided after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017 is just one example of doing work that matters.

Just a few days after the hurricane hit, Chef Andrés and his team landed in Puerto Rico, and they quickly learned the magnitude of the damage was much worse than they had been initially told.

Several individuals on the island were fighting to make it without access to basic necessities like electricity, food, and clean water.

Despite various challenges, Chef Andrés and his crew set up a parking lot kitchen and fed hundreds of people every day. They recruited local chefs and volunteers to cook and distribute over 3 million meals across the island.

One heartwarming story from their time in Puerto Rico is about a woman named Marysol. She had been without power for weeks and had lost everything in the hurricane.

When Chef Andrés and his team moved into her neighbourhood and started cooking meals, Marysol went over to thank them for their work. She was so touched by their kindness that she started crying. She hugged Chef Andrés and his team and told them that they gave her hope when she thought she had none left.

Marysol eventually helped cook and deliver meals to her neighbours and other people in need as a volunteer with World Central Kitchen.

Her story is just one example of how Chef Andrés and his team have helped people after disasters by not only giving them food but also giving them hope and a sense of community.

Chef José Andrés is known for his big goal of feeding the world, and his work with World Central Kitchen has shown that he is committed to this goal.

So it’s not a figure of speech for José Andrés to say that he wants to feed the world. He is serious.

He became famous for feeding the lucky, and a hero for feeding the poor. Since then, he has tried to feed everyone.

Chef Andrés’s work has given a lot of people ideas and made more people aware of how food can bring people together and work for social justice.

His mission to feed the world is a powerful reminder that food is not just a commodity or a luxury, but a basic human need that must be met if we want to make the world fairer and just.

Doing work that matters means making a positive difference in the world. This could be through creating something new, solving a problem, or helping others in some way.

The key is to focus on creating value and making a meaningful contribution.

Doing work that matters is important because it allows us to find personal fulfilment, achieve professional success, and perhaps most importantly, doing work that matters allows us to make a positive difference in the world.

Doing work that matters allows us to contribute to something greater than ourselves and to have a positive impact on others. This can be deeply meaningful and rewarding and can help us feel that our lives have purpose and significance.

Chef Andrés and his World Central Kitchen matter.