A Call to Serve: Bon Appétit Steps Up for Disaster Relief
A boat run aground on the Eckerd College campus after Hurricane Milton in fall 2024.
After witnessing Hurricane Helene’s wreckage in western North Carolina, Shaun Holtgreve, a chef on our national Wellness team, felt “an immediate call to help.” Shaun, whose family was greatly affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, headed to Asheville to volunteer and serve in the aftermath of the storm.
Shaun wasn’t the only Bon Appétiter who served others in the wake of storms and other disasters. Across the Southeast in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and during LA’s wildfires later in the year, Bon Appetit staff stepped up to serve, feed, and tend to our communities. Again and again, our people demonstrated responsiveness, adaptability, and genuine care for the people they serve.
Shaun Holtgreve (L), a chef on Bon Appetit’s Wellness team, in Asheville supporting Hurrican Helene relief efforts.
As a chef, volunteer firefighter, and EMT, Shaun knew his skills and training would be valuable assets to anyone who needed it, and he and his son Jack found the opportunity to help through the World Central Kitchen (WCK) and the City of Asheville. At WCK, Shaun was part of the volunteer culinary team that was responsible for preparing, cooking, and packaging approximately1,500 hot meals a day. “The meals were distributed to local restaurants, delivered directly to families, groups, and individuals by car, truck, and even helicopters,” Shaun explains. While there, he and his son also worked with the supply logistics team that linked the inflow of food and supplies coming into Asheville with relief efforts for Hurricane Milton in Florida.
Through the City of Asheville, they also worked at the central command and support hub for the city to provide three hot meals a day for local and out-of-state first responders such as firefighters and police, EMS, FEMA, the National Guard, City Services, and donation distribution volunteers.
Working Overtime to Feed Stranded Students
In Georgia, staff at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) went to sleep the night before the storm expecting some wind and rain and “woke up to chaos,” says Heather Mattingly, marketing manager at the school. Power was down in most of the city including many dorms at SCAD. Some of the associates stayed on campus to help take care of the students on campus. These “hurricane heroes” worked throughout the day to get the job done.
Students at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA were under a shelter in place order during December’s wildfire that spread from the Santa Monica mountains to the Pepperdine campus, burning close to the buildings. District Manager Jotanna Proescholdt described how hundreds of students were sleeping in the library and the cafe to stay safe while many members of the Bon Appétit team drove back to work through the fire to make sure people were fed. “It was really intense,” she says. They went on to deal with further disruptions on campus during the devastating LA fires a month later.
Jotanna and her team ran their kitchen off a generator to feed 1,200 people three meals a day over the course of two days, and continued to feed volunteers and firefighters after the shelter in place was lifted. “I was really proud of our team,” she says. “Outside everything was just burning around us, but everyone just did what they had to do,” she says. “It was very impressive.”
Coming Together in Difficult Times
Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, cancelling classes and closing campus for a week after the storm hit. As essential employees, the dining hall staff showed up for work and found a way to serve over 8,000 meals over the next week to students who couldn’t leave campus. “Their unwavering commitment was truly inspiring,” says Koren Nappi, resident district manager at Furman.
As General Manager Derek Morgan describes it, “the Bon Appétit team pulled together to retrieve grills from concessions at the stadium, purchase additional grills and as much charcoal and propane as possible to create a makeshift kitchen on the loading dock outside the dining hall.” With this improvised setup, the team served the students three hot meals (as well as sandwiches, salad, fruit, and snacks) daily while power was down at the dining hall over the course of the week following the hurricane. “The makeshift kitchen was a testament to our ingenuity and determination,” says Koren.
Support from around the region, including SCAD’s Senior Executive Chef Joe Graves, who arrived on site to relieve managers and put fresh eyes on the situation. Resourceful team members even found a way to make Cuban coffee for the staff using an old tire as a stovetop, Koren says. “This team never gave up.”
Situated right along the water in St. Petersburg, Florida, Eckerd College’s campus closed for a month while dealing with the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The storm surge from Helene caused floods throughout campus and displaced many Bon Appétit employees from their homes. While Helene’s damage was mostly water-related, Milton brought extensive wind damage, with lost trees, patio roofs torn apart, and more associates displaced from their homes.
When campus re-opened at the end of October, “our staff was eager to feed the students and Eckerd’s community after such hardship,” says marketing coordinator Madi Kaine. “
“This difficult experience has become a true test of how flexible and adaptable our staff is and how much they care about the students,” she says. “When our Eckerd community experiences hardships, Bon Appétit is with them.”
This story originally ran in the Winter 2025 issue of Bravo magazine. Read more about Bon Appétit’s people in the issue.