July

the Cooks Who Care Community Fund for food-service workers in the Greater Philadelphia area. “When there is someone in the industry who isn’t having their best day, I want to be the hand that reaches out,” says Maria, who plans on making a print version of the cookbook later this year. “I want to tell them there is a community that cares about them and understands what they’re going through.” Maria Campbell: In the beginning [2017], we interviewed 100 chefs for a YouTube channel and asked them to get honest about the industry and their experience within it. For example, I was married to a chef who wasn’t home, and we had a kid. After doing 100 interviews, we figured out that everyone felt somewhat alone. Some would say they had a marriage or relationship but it couldn’t outweigh their sustainability in the industry. We felt it didn’t have to be this way. It opened another kind of dialogue. How did Cooks Who Care start? What kind of outreach does Cooks Who Care do? We do a ton of outreach and are starting to do a lot more. This year we are planning on doing a lot of cooking demos and bridging things for the community in Camden with Cheldin Barlatt Rumer. She is from IG Creative, which helps small businesses grow their community, and is putting a space together that will include the Cooks Who Care community. How did the Community Cookbook come about? At the start of the pandemic, I wanted to help the industry, especially the small businesses. They needed to get their names out there, so I reached

out to a friend who does some film work, Eric Lovett Jr. We did a Cooks Who Care takeover, born of the intent to serve the community. We had chefs and people in the industry come in and film a recipe while also telling their stories. The project turned into a digital cookbook. People can listen to the stories as they make a meal. Are there plans to print the cookbook? Yes, we’re really excited about putting this into print! The chefs, mixologists, wellness experts, etc. featured made some incredible food and drink items, but we’ve found that the key element was getting to know the person who created them. What you don’t see is the time it takes to develop their craft, or the mental health affected, or the sacrifices they made to do what they do. How did you choose what went into the cookbook? People gave us more recipes than we knew what to do with! Our budget could only afford 80 pages, so we threw in some bonus recipes in the video part of the book. Because we are self-publishing, I’m learning while doing. Each chef only had 30 minutes to make their items, but we edited it down to 15 minutes or less for each video. You can read steps in a recipe, but a video really shows you exactly what is meant to be done.