WSCS has been an anchor at the heart of one of Buffalo’s most diverse and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, offering a dignified response to the community food crisis as just one part of a broad spectrum of education, arts, wellness, and prevention programs and services. 

Like all hunger-relief initiatives, WSCS is seeing a steady rise in the number of people accessing their services. The WSCS pantry, Provisions 139, distributed more than 163,000 pounds of food (equivalent to 110,000 meals) throughout 2023 and served approximately 1000 people (300 households) monthly last year. The latest numbers reported from WSCS for the second quarter of 2024 illustrate growing demand. The pantry served 1437 individuals in May and 1357 in June, and the number of households served peaked at 401 in May. These staggering figures represent a nearly 40% increase in volume from 2023 to 2024. 

To help meet the growing demand, WSCS organized West Side Chops, a community fundraiser that saw three corporate and three non-profit chefs compete against one another in a Chopped-style cooking contest using ingredients commonly found on the shelves at Provisions 139. Guests sampled small plates from each chef and cast their vote for the tastiest creation. A panel of judges also ranked the dishes and awards for Peoples’ Choice and Judges’ Choice were presented.  

The event exceeded its $20K fundraising goal (a rare achievement for an inaugural event) through tickets sales, sponsorships and basket raffles, bringing in just over $24,000. Mary Schaefer, Director of Operations, West Side Community Services, said the funds raised will be used to continue WSCS programming for youth, older adults, and West Siders accessing healthy foods, both at the pantry and at the organization’s center on Vermont Street.  

“2023 was a huge year for our pantry – we moved from 139 Vermont Street to 44 Breckenridge Street over the summer and greatly expanded our pantry space,” said Mary. “We started our NYS contract, which allows us to spend a lot more money on locally produced foods. We hired our first-ever full-time pantry manager, who has been working hard to administrate the new contract and keep the pantry stocked with local, fresh foods, even as demand has sharply increased.” 

The community outreach event was a great opportunity to shine a light on the need and raise much-needed funds, while also helping to dismantle the stigma associated with food assistance programs. All of the corporations and non-profits engaged in West Side Chops found unique ways to contribute to the cause and raise awareness. 

In addition to sponsoring the event, Rich’s entered its own chef into the competition, Chef Jake Brach, Rich’s Manager of Culinary Programs – Community Engagement, and Chef Stephen Rich, Rich’s Innovation Center Chef, was given the distinct honor of selecting the pantry items each chef was required to incorporate into their signature dish. Stephen selected apples, tofu, dates and collard greens; four ingredients that are not only accessible through a pantry system, but also reflective of the community, culturally significant, and meet common dietary needs.  

“It’s so important to retain dignity and choice around food, even when groceries are sourced from a community-based food pantry,” said Kevin Aman, VP Community Engagement, Rich Products. “When faced with food insecurity, people’s voice and choice are often taken from them, as well as the ability to create food that is cost effective while still giving space for creativity and imagination. All six chefs delivered exciting yet approachable recipes that could easily be created from home using common pantry ingredients.” 

To further deliver on the importance of choice, Provisions 139 is a “customer-choice” pantry, which means the pantry is set up like a store and customers can shop for what they need and want, rather than receiving prepacked boxes.  

“Not only does this model better accommodate different types of diets based on religious restrictions, food allergies and sensitivities, and simple food preferences, it also cuts down on food waste by inviting customers to take what they want and leave what they don’t,” said Mary. “There are a growing number of pantries in WNY that use this model, including several on the West Side, so we’re glad to be part of that trend.” 

Chef Jake was also paying attention to trends when he presented guests and judges with a globally inspired Thai collard roll with spicy peanut sauce. Jake incorporated the four required ingredients, and a few extra for balance, and stir fried the filling in Asian spices before wrapping it all in blanched collard greens.  

“I am always thrilled to get a chance to work with other area chefs from all sorts of operations, because we get a chance to connect with new folks in our business, and also reconnect with the folks we have worked with in the past,” explained Jake. “It also gives us the opportunity to learn from each other and see how everyone integrated the ingredients we were required to use.” 

Theresa Dempster, Head Chef at Big Big Table, was another chef fighting to stay off the chopping block while also shedding light on the widespread food insecurity crisis. Big Big Table is a community café that operates on the pay-as-you-can model. Guests are invited to offer money, time, or groceries in exchange for their meal. Theresa witnesses the need firsthand every day. 

“Everyone needs to eat, plain and simple,” remarked Theresa. “We operate a restaurant where everyone who walks through the doors gets a meal and is treated with kindness and respect. We feed everyone and offer a variety of means for people to participate for their meal. It’s not always easy, but we love what we do.”  

Theresa said she regularly refers people to WSCS to access programs and resources that Big Big Table doesn’t offer. Likewise, Provisions 139 donates produce and other surplus food to Big Big Table.  

“We are spreading the love and, in this case, the food,” said Theresa. “We help each other, and the people of Buffalo, in any way we can. WSCS is not the only resource we reach out to; if we are all going to make it, we must make it together.” 

Theresa, a trained pastry chef, enjoyed the opportunity to flex her culinary muscles. For her competition entry, Theresa prepared a coconut curry with roasted tofu, apples and dates, inspired in equal parts by her love of the rich flavor profile of curry and her passion for soup season. She tweaked an existing recipe to incorporate dates and tofu and focused on presenting a dish that anyone could make at home.  

The other four participating chefs and their culinary creations were:  

Chef Daniel Genco, Pantry Manager, West Side Community Services/Provisions 139
~ sweet potato gnocchi with apples, collards and cream  

Chef Alex Zimmer, Executive Chef, Executive Dining Room, M&T Bank  

~ smoked tofu with date bbq sauce an collard green cake 

Chef Nathalie Zola Malu, Owner & Chef, Malika & Co.
~ mini waffles with caramel apple date sauce 

Chef Evan Wargo – Executive Chef, Patina 250, Delaware North Sportservice
~ tofu-cashew cheesecake, date & apple genoise, and collard green gelee. 

To learn more about the six chefs click here. 

The esteemed panel of local judges and foodies included: Ryan Fernandez, Chef-Owner, Southern Junction; Andrew Galarneau, Editor, Four Bites; and Alexa Wajed, Co-founder and Chief Strategy and Operations Officer, Eat Off Art. 

Delicious cuisine was enjoyed by all, and a healthy competition quickly brewed among the chefs. Ultimately, chef Nathalie Zola Malu’s mini waffles pleased the judge’s palette and earned the Judge’s Choice award, while chef Daniel Genco’s sweet potato gnocchi was honored as the People’s Choice. 

“Rich’s is proud to have collaborated with the great cross section of organizations that came together to support West Side Community Services,” said Kevin. “We love to show up with our community in this way and, being food-centric, the culinary competition theme was a natural fit for us, and a win for the community. Hunger is not an issue any one of us can tackle alone. By uniting our efforts around a shared goal, we can accomplish more together than any one of us can do alone.” 

If you don’t want to wait until next year’s West Side Chops to support WSCS, the non-profit accepts donations of items that it cannot purchase through existing funding sources, including: cooking and baking ingredients (such as oil, flour, sugar, vinegar, and spices), in addition to cleaning and hygiene products. 

“We are always in need of volunteers to help stock the shelves, organize products, and help customers shop,” added Mary.  

To become a volunteer, head to wscsbuffalo.org/volunteer to learn more and to complete a volunteer application.