I have the pleasure of working with a variety of different restaurants and food establishments in my day job and I love it.
Connecting with business owners, learning more about how they got there, what their goals are, and most importantly, how they came up with their menus is one of my favorite things. Recently, since I already spend about 80 to 90 percent of my time in the restaurant world anyway, I decided to launch my own foodie instagram (find me on the gram @corpusfoodadventures).
I did this for a couple of reasons:
- I saw a need for more exposure for our local restaurants and the heart of our city, and
- I wanted to grow a social media presence so I can also highlight a growing problem in cities across the country: hunger and homelessness.
In our sparkling city by the sea, a recent survey showed that the homeless population in Nueces County makes up “The state total for homeless people, which excludes major cities Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston, was nearly 6,000.”
Many of our homeless are men, and over half of them are currently not in homeless shelters. That number is saddening as our state continues to figure out what to do about the homeless epidemic. But, alongside this data, we can also note that many of our homeless are also hungry, and there are many families across the city and surrounding counties that are not homeless but still live in poverty where hunger is a daily occurrence . These figures are staggering, yes, but I truly believe that as a community we can do so much more, and I hope to be a part of that movement.
So, this is what I plan to do – and I hope there are others out there that are willing to join me:
I would like to continue to highlight our amazing restaurant owners and leaders in our community. Many of the restaurant owners in our city are very involved already in organizations and their time and efforts can be seen throughout the city. For these individuals, I will never stop sharing, posting, and being a cheerleader for their establishments. Secondly, for my followers, I want to be a place of information sharing and gathering.
Do you know a restaurant that has a day they give out free meals or an event coming up that they are hosting to benefit needy groups? Tell me about them, I will gladly share on my platform, do my best to show up and highlight, and help you with your mission! Are you a restaurant that has a similar mindset about making a movement? Connect with me, I want to brainstorm with the best of you so we can come up with events, pop-up locations, and more that bridges the gap between the fed and un-fed.
I truly believe that our community can grow and learn from each other. Whether you believe so or not, history has shown that when people pull together anything can happen and change is possible. If this movement is something you want to get involved in or something you believe in , or both, please help me share. I will see you around, Corpus Christi.