PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Today is Thursday, August 8th. Thank you for tuning in to WORLD Radio to start your day. Good morning. I’m Paul Butler.
MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.
Next The world and everything in it: Life change.
According to a study conducted last year, food insecurity is increasing across America, especially in the Midwest. Community organizations and volunteers are trying to help.
BUTLER: Coltan Schiefer, a graduate of the World Journalism Institute’s Young Professionals program, recently met with a former cook who now works at a soup kitchen.
AUDIO: (Noises from the kitchen)
COLTAN SCHIEFER: The biggest mistake in Tobin Simpson’s life turned into the biggest blessing. In 2011, the South Carolina resident had just started his career in the kitchen of an upscale restaurant. The future looked bright.
TOBIN SIMPSON: I was very competent at the time and saw myself in a position to go to Chicago or New York.
However, the pressure to come early and stay late was constant. Many of the employees were drug addicts. The owners took long vacations even though they didn’t yet know if they would be able to pay the next paycheck.
One night in 2011, Simpson came out of the kitchen and saw a drunken customer throwing a chair and threatening a waitress. Simpson’s growing frustration came to the fore.
SIMPSON: He was outside before I got to him, and then when I got outside on the sidewalk, there was a cop across the street, and I pushed him. I didn’t even hit him, but I did. And when I pushed him, he fell. He fell hard. And at that moment, I thought he was… I actually thought he was dead.
Fortunately, the customer didn’t suffer any serious injuries, but Simpson was still in trouble. Since he had no record prior to this incident, the court simply ordered community service. He was given a list of options, and one in particular caught his eye.
SIMPSON: So I wanted to, you know, make a living through community service and make sure it wasn’t necessary anymore. And then I saw a soup kitchen down there and I thought, “I’m going to show them how to cook.” But, man, it wasn’t like that at all.
Simpson always loved cooking. His career path was clear. But he quickly realized that he also fell in love with something else. He loved people – especially people who had problems and were ready to turn their lives around.
SIMPSON: The first day I worked at the soup kitchen, I went home and there was my – she was my girlfriend then – now my wife, and I just cried. I told her I had never experienced so much love and compassion.
At the end of his community service, Simpson had no desire to return to the restaurant business. Organizing lavish banquets for the rich no longer sounded inspiring. Tobin Simpson realized that there was something more important to him – an organization and people who needed his help. He could help Project Host.
AUDIO: (People coming through the door)
Six days a week, Project Host offers hot meals to anyone who stops by. The nonprofit, based in Greenville, South Carolina, works in an area where there is great need. According to 2022 statistics from Feeding America, over 60,000 people in Greenville live in food-insecure households. Data USA adds that in the same year, 14% of the population lived below the poverty line.
AUDIO: (People eating, talking)
Today’s meal consists of ham and bean soup, salmon meatballs, orzo, spinach and sun-dried tomato casserole, bread and fresh fruit.
AUDIO: (Noises from the kitchen)
But Project Host is much more than just a soup kitchen. They offer a six-week cooking school, host large community dinners, and drive a food truck to events around the city. They even have a garden that yields over 2,000 pounds of produce each year.
After volunteering at the soup kitchen for several months, Tobin Simpson was asked to become an instructor in the culinary school. By 2020, Simpson rose to CEO. Instead of trying to expand laterally, he focused on vertical growth.
SIMPSON: We have to stay the course. There are so many other nonprofits that deal with all the other obstacles to finding work. There isn’t one that I know of that is specifically dedicated to this hurdle.
Now, in 2024, Project Host has three kitchens. One of them is for the soup kitchen. The other two are used for the cooking school and internships. Over 200 people have completed the six-week program. After graduation, Project Host helps them find work and over 90 percent of graduates have found a job.
However, it is not always easy. Students have been expelled from school for violence or theft. Sometimes students stay for a week and then disappear.
MICHELLE LIGGETT: And we understand that. Sometimes a job comes up. Transportation goes down, child care goes down.
Michelle Liggett is COO of Project Host.
LIGGETT: Yes, and we keep all the applications in case they want to try again. The next time the doors will open.
With a focus on vertical growth, the organization has dramatically increased its food distribution. In 2023 alone, they distributed well over 100,000 meals. So why all this work? For Liggett, it’s clear.
LIGGETT: It’s a really satisfying feeling to apply everything I’ve learned and all my skills to something that gives back.
Giving back to her community is important to Liggett and that is also the best part of her job at Project Host: seeing someone change their life. Tobin Simpson explains:
SIMPSON: All the work, all the days of thinking, “I don’t know if we’re making a difference. I don’t know if what we’re doing makes sense.” All of that is gone in that moment, and you think, “Yeah, even if it’s just for one person, it’s worth it.”
Reporting for WORLD from South Carolina, I’m Coltan Slate.
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