North Texas Restaurateur Feeding Ukrainians

A North Texas restaurateur is working alongside the nonprofit World Central Kitchen to raise money for the crisis in Ukraine. Shannon Wynne owns more than thirty restaurants in Texas and told NBC 5 he came up with a simple way to raise money. He added a surcharge of $1 to every tab, no matter how big the party was or what was ordered. 

“It’s a very small amount,” Wynne told NBC. “We’ve had almost zero pushback because of it, which I’m really grateful for. If somebody doesn’t want to give that dollar, we’ll give it right back. We’re happy to do that.”

Wynne made the change in place of asking for donations and will donate all the raised money to World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit run by Chef Jose Andres. The nonprofit is providing hot meals to refugees fleeing Ukraine. Andres has set up multiple mobile kitchens, NBC reported, and donations allow him to provide more meals. 

“When you talk about food and water, people don’t want a solution one week from now, one month from now,” Andres stated in a video on the World Central Kitchen website. “The solution has to be now.”

According to the website, over 2,000 distribution centers are currently set up across Ukraine. Each day, hundreds of thousands of meal kits are given out. Some of these areas are not receiving much else in humanitarian aid. 

World Central Kitchen has partnered with multiple local Ukrainian restaurants to cook and distribute meals. In an April 21 update posted to the site, the organization said it is still hard at work amid threats in the country. 

“Amid the ongoing threats, WCK restaurant and delivery partners are determined to provide meals and food products to frontline communities and shelters,” the update stated. “24 miles outside of Kyiv, Brovary was hit by missiles this week, leaving the area without power or water. Our restaurant partners in Kyiv, who are already cooking thousands of meals for hospitals and liberated cities, expanded their capacity to ensure we provided meals to the hard-hit community. Also nearby, José and the team delivered food bags in Shybene and Borodyanka.”

Employees of a Yaposhka restaurant partnered with WCK were recently injured in a nearby missile attack, but the restaurant has begun cooking in a new location. 

“After a missile hit near Yaposhka — sending 4 employees to the hospital — the team has relocated to a new kitchen to continue cooking for neighbors in need,” WCK shared on Twitter. “The unbreakable spirit of Ukrainians through this crisis is incredible & WCK is honored to be able to support.”

Shannon Wynne told NBC he hopes to raise $250,000 for World Central Kitchen eventually. After just three days of implementing the surcharge, he had raised $22,000. 

“I’m very grateful that the community has come together like they have,” Wynne said.

He added that he hopes other restaurants will catch on and introduce similar fundraising tactics. 

In addition to meals, the team at World Central Kitchen has adapted to provide generators, supplies, and animal food to communities in need.