Refusing to Fold Under Pressure

Raffaele DePalma

Executive Chef, The Bowery Mission

Early COVID memories: I remember my wife driving me to work in the morning at 7:30. We were the only people on the Williamsburg Bridge. I was like, "Could you ever picture seeing the city like this?" There was nobody out, nothing. And the only people we saw on the street were our community. It would have just been so easy to give up. Because it was a scary thing for everyone.

Putting First Things First: It was so important to our team to make sure everyone just had something to eat. We didn't care how many hours we were working, or what we had to do. We just wanted to make sure the community had a good meal.

Proud Moments: I was proud of everybody. I've always been proud to work here. But I was proud to have everyone just work together. We could have folded, like many others who didn’t have the same help, people or supplies. But we didn't fold, no matter how hard it was. And It wasn’t just the kitchen staff putting in all those hours. Everyone onsite was working around the clock. Without them, we wouldn't be able to put out the food.

Teamwork & Creativity: At first, we needed to make prepared meals, but didn't have the supplies. So we just kept it simple. All the onsite staff came together and everyone played their part. We would put the food on a paper plate and wrap it first in foil and then in plastic. No matter what your role or your title was, it was one Bowery Mission team. COVID brought everybody here closer.

A Moment of Hope: One day we did mac and cheese and roasted chicken for dinner. I remember this one guy. He couldn’t believe he was getting that meal. He was just so happy. It was nice just to put a smile on his face. I remember him saying, "You know, you guys don't even have to be doing this."

What Drives You: I know I’ve said this plenty of times, but there was a time in my life when I didn't know where my next meal was coming from. So it's important to me, to everyone, our team, to make sure that someone has a quality meal to eat. A simple meal can bring someone up when they're going through something, especially when they don't know when their next one is coming.

Lessons Learned: I always knew I was good in the kitchen, but I learned I had other skills, leadership-wise. I learned that I don't fold under pressure and I can adapt pretty quickly. COVID actually helped me get better at coming up with a plan on the fly. Instead of having a week to think about something, I had like an hour!

What Kept You Going: I know God places us in positions that he wants us to be, in certain seasons of our lives. There’s no coincidence. He put me here for this season, so it was my job to make sure I led the team.

Supporting the Team: I was just there. My team knows they can call me at 2 o'clock in the morning and I'll answer. So if they needed to pray, we prayed. Whatever anyone needed to get through the day. I also tried to catch when someone was feeling weary and give them time off to be away with their families and reboot.

COVID Takeaways: When God's children unite, there's nothing that can stop them. If my grandchildren ever ask me about this pandemic, I’ll say it brought me closer to God because I needed to lean on Him more than ever before.

On Donated Food: At the beginning, I remember telling the team, “God's putting this in my heart now, but it's going to get easier. I'm telling you guys, the food's gonna come. God's gonna bring the food.” Not even two days later, someone called and wanted to give us 900 meals. And then we got more and more. At one point, we must have had 5,000 meals frozen at three different sites.

Final Thoughts: I want to give the team the credit, every one of them. They’re the ones putting in the hard labor. Everyone put in their part, from our lead cooks to our regular cooks to our dishwasher preps and drivers, Spencer and Alfredo. I couldn't have done this with a different group.