Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
While designated public service entities like the Sheriff's Office, Monticello Police Department, The American Red Cross, Second Harvest of the Big Bend, FEMA and the National Guard have been highly visible at the forefront of our community's response to Hurricane Idalia, a number of regular citizens also emerged into immensely helpful roles during the disaster. Consider the efforts of Mike and Jessica Robinson.
It all began on Aug. 31, when they realized that their neighborhood of Aucilla Shores was likely to be without power longer than other areas of the county. They heard that people's freezers were going down, and they had excess food that needed to be cooked up or it would go to waste. Mike decided to set up his “big bull grill” at the front of the neighborhood, sent out a Facebook post and started serving up burgers and hot dogs free of charge so that his neighbors would have lunch that day.
“It just kind of grew and grew and grew,” said Mike. “More people were donating food, and people were in demand of it. Sheriff Mac organized a crew of people. Chris Tuten brought out some supplies, so it worked out really good.”
And Mike just kept on cooking. By the end of that first day, they had fixed more than 500 plates!
“We were going to take off the next day, 'cause we were wore out,” recalls Mike. “Then we got a phone call from some friends saying the National Guard in Waukeenah and Lloyd were eating their MREs. So I loaded up everything and threw a bunch more pork on the grill, some hot dogs and hamburgers. We just cleaned out the freezer at the house.”
They sent meals to first responders first and then gave more meals away in the neighborhood after that. As food donations continued to roll in, Mike kept on grilling, and more volunteers showed up to be food runners. They moved their setup to their business, Robinson Gunworks and Range on South Water Street, and Jessica was constantly writing Mike's cell phone number on scraps of paper and handing it out to line crews and debris trucks as they passed them on the road.
“Call us when you need food,” she would tell them.
Local businesses started helping out too: Hines Boyd of Glendower Farms gave the Robinsons hundreds of pounds of pork to cook; Kevin Patel of JP's Shell donated mac-n-cheese and green beans for sides; CB Family Farms donated brisket; Florida-Georgia Citrus donated food and labor for breakfasts; Mafia Pizza brought supplies for packaging the meals; Carl and Misty Scarberry from ABC Maintenance provided another smoker; and the list goes on.
Mike and Jessica recall getting support from Holland Lawn and Maintenance; Rep. Allison Tant dropping off a carload of charcoal to keep the fires going; Brenton and Holly Berry providing more than a 1,000 food trays and condiments; Kayse Hammond pitching in; and Kelly and Brandon Gibbs helping to cook.
In four days, the Robinsons and the extensive effort they inspired prepared more than 2,000 plates to feed hungry families, first responders, linemen and cleanup crews in our area. They cooked up a storm!
One might think that after this marathon of grilling, Mike might not want to grill another anything for quite a while. That's not what happened, though, not by a long shot. He and Jessica found the experience tiring, yes, but also really satisfying. So rewarding, in fact, that they want to open their own food truck, just for providing free hot food in times of crisis. What will they call it? The Disaster Diner.
They had the chance to try out their concept over the weekend, when they planned to head down to harder hit Perry, Fla., to cook for residents and first responders in Taylor County.
So much tangible good came of the Robinsons' effort, but for Mike the best thing was “to see the amount of people come together.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.