Soup’s on: Franklin chef opens soup kitchen for those in need

<p>In less than a week, the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis has decimated the food and service industry within Johnson County.</p><p>Richard Goss has seen it firsthand. The Franklin chef and owner of Richard’s Brick Oven Pizza has closed its doors to diners and moved to a carry-out only model.</p><p>Goss has worked in the service industry his entire life. So as the coronavirus has upended daily life and left a staggering amount of Johnson County servers, cooks and employees in all kinds of other industries unemployed, he wanted to step up.</p><p>&quot;I knew from my experience in the restaurant that we weren’t going to have the hours that we used to, to offer to our employees. I knew there would be many, many people in the same boat. So I wanted to set up a mechanism so the people who really needed food had access to some,&quot; he said.</p><p>Goss, working with local entrepreneur Bill Dever and others, has opened a nightly soup kitchen at his restaurant at 229 S. Main St. The group is working under the umbrella of the World Central Kitchen, a worldwide nonprofit that captures the skills and energy of the food industry to feed people during times of crisis.</p><p>From 6 to 7 p.m. every night, until the coronavirus crisis is over, Goss and others will be serving food to anyone in need.</p><p>&quot;We set it up every night for people who are feeling the stress of being unemployed, being recently laid off, as well as feeding some seniors there,&quot; Dever said. &quot;We wanted to do something to feed these folks.&quot;</p><p>Goss and Dever were inspired to open the soup kitchen as soon as it became evident that social distancing precautions and closures would leave a lot of people without jobs.</p><p>The idea started as Goss thought of local seniors, reaching out to Johnson County Senior Services to see if there was a need, and what they could do to help. The agency offers a food pantry, and often delivers food to older adults who cannot get out of their homes.</p><p>The concept quickly expanded to include anyone in need.</p><p>&quot;The saying goes: Act locally, think globally,&quot; Goss said. &quot;I hear a lot of people where this has impacted their lives, and there’s a lot of people who are impacted even worse. I’d rather spend my time in a positive way, doing what I can rather than complaining about what I can’t do.&quot;</p><p>Part of the inspiration was World Central Kitchen. Goss had always admired the work of José Andrés, the world-class chef who created World Central Kitchen. The organization was created when Andrés and his wife, Patrician, envisioned an organization that would create smart solutions to hunger and poverty, according to a statement by Andres on his website.</p><p>The group created a number of important programs in a clean cookstoves initiative, culinary training programs and social enterprise ventures to empower communities and strengthen economies.</p><p>But the largest impact has been organizing food-based responses to disasters and crises. World Central Kitchen has served more than 10 million meals, deploying to areas such as Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, North Carolina after Hurricane Florence and California following the recent wildfires.</p><p>&quot;Just seeing the work that (Andrés) has been doing, I tried to get involved and volunteer myself, but they didn’t have any need in the Midwest at that point,&quot; Goss said. &quot;I’m in awe of the work they’re doing, and wanted to carry that on locally.&quot;</p><p>The first night of the food pantry was Wednesday, and has gone every night since then, with a different soup distributed to people to take out each night. During a spaghetti dinner on Friday, they served up all the food they had prepared.</p><p>&quot;I’m just so happy to be there for them,&quot; Goss said. &quot;Just finding the need and getting busy with it.&quot;</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="If you go" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Richard’s Community Kitchen</p><p>What: A nightly distribution of soup or other food for those who have lost their jobs or are in need.</p><p>Where: Richard’s Brick Oven Pizza, 229 S. Main St., Franklin</p><p>When: 6-7 p.m. nightly</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]