Chef and The Salvation Army Unite to Feed Community Affected by Wildfires

Since the wildfires in western Canada began, The Salvation Army has joined together with various partners to help provide food and hydration to evacuees and firefighters. In Kelowna, B.C., one chef and his team have made it a mission to ensure residents, evacuees, and front-line workers don’t go hungry.

Chef Adam Relvas, and his wife Lindsay, are the owners of Relvas Catering. Together with their team, they partnered with The Salvation Army to provide meals for seniors unable to leave their homes due to the dangerous smoke hovering over Kelowna.

“Once the fires started, we knew that we needed to do something to help out. We talked with our contacts from The Salvation Army, and they wanted to do something as well to help so that the seniors didn’t have to go out into the smoke,” Adam said.

While the Relvas team prepares meals, The Salvation Army reaches out to seniors in the community who may need food assistance. Once the meals are ready, the Army delivers the food to the homes of those in need.

Partnerships between The Salvation Army and Relvas Catering have been frequent in the last few years. Especially when it comes to providing food for seniors.

“During COVID, we started teaming up with The Salvation Army to provide meals to seniors. And so we’ve had the relationship with them for the last few years,” Adam added.

Since the collaborations with the Army began, Adam says his team has prepared over 10,000 meals for seniors in the community.

During the wildfires, the Relvas team has also provided meals for anyone on the front line, as well as for people who have been forced to evacuate their homes. From 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., the team works hard preparing food for all the organizations they are helping, including The Salvation Army.

Since they started their catering company, Adam and Lindsay have made it a priority to always help the community when there is a need. This sentiment comes from a personal experience that left a mark on their lives.

“We’ve been big advocates for giving back to our community for as long as we’ve had a business. We started our own business about seven years ago and six weeks after we started, our son was diagnosed with cancer. As we went through that journey with him, our community stepped up to help and support us,” Adam shared. “We were adamant that through all of that, we would do anything and everything that we could to give back to our community whenever we possibly could.”

Salvation Army mobile canteen serves food and hydration to firefighters.

Since the wildfires began, The Salvation Army’s emergency disaster services have provided over 27,000 meals, 42,000 drinks, and over 34,000 snacks, to residents affected by the fires, as well as to first responders. Contributions to the Army’s relief campaign help ensure that everyone involved has access to food and basic necessities.

To make a donation in support of the Wildfire Emergency Relief campaign, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY or visit SalvationArmy.ca/Wildfires.

By Juan Romero