Garlic Festival Celebrity Chef Michael Giletto, who performed live food demonstrations onstage at the 34th annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, is lending his talents to help feed emergency services personnel and displaced victims of October’s Hurricane Sandy.
Immediately after Sandy hit, Giletto, the executive chef of the NJ Bayonne Golf Club, formed and mobilized a “Chefs Survival Team” with two other chefs from the New Jersey area.
“We set up several shelters and kitchens,” Giletto says. “There are a lot of area restaurants with inventory in their freezers and we’ve secured as much raw protein as possible.”
The team facilitates daily food service for groups from Toms River, NJ, to Atlantic City and Far Rockaway.
“The first few days focused on recovery aspects,” Giletto explains. “Then it became immediately apparent that the recovery teams required sustenance and that more and more people were left without homes in the aftermath of the destruction.”
Approximately 3,400 victims and emergency workers were served Thanksgiving meals and Giletto anticipates that his team will be active for at least three more weeks.
