Behind the Shield: Providing Hope One Plate at a Time

Of the more than 40,000 meals served a year at The Salvation Army of Northeast Florida’s Towers Center of Hope, some of the favorite meals prepared and served to participants living there are lasagna, meatloaf, tator tots and grits.

Warm, nutritious meals are being served to individuals and families at the Towers Center of Hope during a time when they’re needed most. “We have friends out on the street who don’t have the meals that we have and they’re jealous. We tell them they should come to The Salvation Army,” said current Towers Transitional Housing participant Frank Pasaqule. “It’s a great program and an opportunity to feel safe as well as have people care about you.”

Corey Cooper, kitchen lead cook, tries to serve the food nice and hot. “I attend to the participants like I would attend to myself,” he said. “I know it makes me feel better when someone brings out a hot plate where smoke is coming off of it.”

Pasaqule says the food served at the Towers is good. “Cooper makes you feel at home. That’s just his personality. It’s great that we can laugh and joke with him,” he said.

“My favorite thing to cook is whatever is going to make the participants happy and will fill their bellies,” shared Cooper. “Anything cooked with love is my favorite meal to prepare.”

Food Services Manager Kent Beaumont says it really important for participants to receive a warm meal during their initial time spent at the Towers because it’s a critical first step towards everything else. “It’s the cornerstone of what we do, especially for the children,” he stated. “A lot of us have memories of when we were younger and sharing favorite meals with our families. My daughter is 25 and still remembers us splitting a meal at McDonald’s.”

These hot meals are served three times a day with love and take a team in order to pull them off. Cooper says it takes God’s mercy, grace and teamwork.

“We have a small kitchen staff and there needs to be two people in the kitchen at all times—someone cooking, someone serving and creating side preparations, such as sauces and salad dressings,” he explained. “It’s time consuming but we do it with teamwork and good time management.”

Beaumont shares that sometimes the cooking staff face challenges in the kitchen, especially when it comes to food being donated versus food that is purchased. “We’re incredibly grateful for donated food, but it takes time and care to sort through everything and identify what can be used to serve our participants,” he said. We’re always trying to use

as much food as we can from our donations, so our donor partners see we’re being good stewards.”

Volunteers and donations play a pivotal role in helping provide meals to participants. “We would spend a third more of our budget if we didn’t have donations,” explained Beaumont. “Partners like Publix are important because they gives us a swath of food we can utilize, often items that can be difficult to order.”

He says volunteers really allow the kitchen to curb costs and stretch payroll dollars with such a small staff. “We need help serving meals as well as cleaning and disinfecting the dining room, which has to be done three times a day. Volunteers are crucial. It enables me to stay on top of my managerial duties,” Beaumont said.

Pasauqle says the Transitional Housing program at The Towers Center of Hope has been a miracle for him. “This had been a Godsend. Everyone here, as far as the staff goes, has been great,” he shared. “Everybody makes you feel at home and like they want you to succeed in anything that you’re dealing with.”

It’s people like Pasauqle that motivate Cooper and Beaumont to get out of bed and come to work to continue cooking and serving food each day.

Cooper is inspired by God and the people he serves. “I’m determined not to give up when I don’t have anything else to give. I don’t want to disappoint God or The Salvation Army.

In 1977, Beaumont began his career in the food industry as a busboy and has spent nearly five decades serving others through the food industry. For him, feeding people is more than a job—it’s a calling. “It has always been honorable and always will be,” he said. “Society sometimes looks down upon servers, but there’s something deeply rewarding about helping provide a meal for someone. Knowing you’ve played a part in nourishing another person’s needs is satisfying to me, and it always will be.”