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He fed over 13,000 people after Hurricane Michael. Now, he’s preparing to feed more after Dorian.
ATLANTA — Editor’s note: The above video is from 2018, during Hurricane Michael response.
Dan Francis is among the millions along the East Coast prepping for Hurricane Dorian, but his storm preps are not the way one might expect.
“We have all our vehicles ready, we have all our supplies ready, and we know exactly what we’re going to do and how we’re going to attack it,” he told 11Alive.
Francis owns Shade Tree Kitchens, a senior mobile food service operating in metro Atlanta. So, he’s used to serving food and helping people. But he spent the majority of Labor Day weekend watching the radar and preparing supplies – lots of them. He plans to take massive amounts of pasta into storm-beaten areas of Florida, Georgia and even further north, depending on where Hurricane Dorian makes landfall.
“We hope to deliver up to 10,000 meals a day in whatever area is affected,” Francis explained. “There’s a period of time where people have no infrastructure, no power, no nothing – maybe not even a safe place to be – that are going to be hungry, and we try to comfort them just a little bit, by giving them a good hot meal.”
This could be the second time the cook and former EMT heads into an area devastated by a hurricane. In 2018, Francis went into several parts of Florida destroyed by Hurricane Michael. He left metro Atlanta with a truck full of supplies and pounds upon pounds of pasta.
“It doesn’t require refrigeration, it holds temperature for a very long time and allows us to make it, pack it and transport it over hours without violating any food safety laws,” he said.
He started cooking in a Tallahassee radio station parking lot and soon moved to other areas, traveling hundreds of miles across Florida, helping people in need.
“We’re thinking we feed about 13 to 15,000 people in five days.”
He didn’t pull it off all on his own. Local businesses, churches, and even survivors of Michael began donating money, supplies, and food as he traveled across the state.
“It never failed that more volunteers than were needed would go out of there ways to help me,” he said.
RELATED: A truck, some pots, & a lot of pasta: Atlanta man journeys to Florida to feed Michael survivors
His first mission was rewarding, but presented challenges, such as long drive times around tree covered roads and washed out bridges and lack of electricity. Francis said he learned from that and is over preparing this time.
“We identify resupplying places – Walmart, Costco – outside of the devastation area so that we can go there at night and restock and get back to the troubled areas as quickly as possible,” he said.
But, ultimately, Francis is hoping he never has to leave Georgia. He hopes Dorian stays away from land and he’s praying that even if it does hit, it doesn’t do much damage. If it does, however, he and a few people from his Shade Tree Kitchens team are ready to move.
“The end result is that I will get more out of this than anyone ever will, because it’s a spiritual thing,” he explained. “They feed us with gratitude, and they’ll feed us with courage and strength in the face of devastation.”
Francis has a GoFundMe, called Panhandle Pasta Project, to help raise money for supplies and additional food. However, the fundraising is disabled until he knows for sure he will have to travel and prepare meals for people.
To keep up with updates on Francis, follow him on Facebook.
TRACKING HURRICANE DORIAN
Chance of Dorian impacting GA increasing
Dorian now has some of the strongest winds ever for an Atlantic storm