Chef Gary Receives 2024 Community Champion Award by National Restaurant Association

November 7, 2024

Chef Gary Receives 2024 Community Champion Award by National Restaurant Association

WASHINGTON, DC — Chef Gary LeBlanc, Founder and CEO of Mercy Chefs, has been recognized with the Community Champion Award as part of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s 2024 Restaurant Advance Leadership Awards.

The honor celebrates Mercy Chefs’ extraordinary impact in providing more than 28 million hot, restaurant-quality meals to disaster survivors, first responders, and volunteers across the country and around the globe. With the support of 15,000 volunteers, the organization continues to serve those in need with compassion and excellence.

Sponsored by American Express, this award paid tribute to Mercy Chefs’ commitment to disaster relief, community service, and charitable outreach, acknowledging the organization’s vital role in times of crisis.

Read more about the award from the National Restaurant Association here.

ABOUT MERCY CHEFS  

Mercy Chefs is a 501(c)(3) founded in 2006 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The organization exists to provide professionally prepared, restaurant-quality meals to victims, volunteers, and first responders in natural disasters and national emergencies, and partners with existing ministries with food service in underserved communities across the country and around the globe. Since its founding, Mercy Chefs has served more than 35 million meals. In 2020, Mercy Chefs founder Gary LeBlanc was recognized by Southern Living Magazine as a “Hometown Hero,” and Mercy Chefs was named the 2020 Small Business of the Year in the nonprofit category by Inside Business and the Hampton Roads Chamber. Mercy Chefs has also been featured in major news outlets, such as CNN, Fox News, NBC News, PBS, and ABC News. For more information, visit mercychefs.com.

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