Professional chef loses job in pandemic, but reinvents himself in Broomfield Corps Kitchen
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (KDVR) – If we’re lucky, when this pandemic is over, we might just emerge with a new definition of what’s important and what matters. David Jones already has.
Never has serving lunch held as much meaning as it does right now.
“I feel extremely lucky. I never would’ve thought that this would’ve happened out of the whole coronavirus,” Jones told FOX31 as he dished homemade shepherd’s pie into take-out containers in the kitchen of the Salvation Army Broomfield Corps building.
“I’m a chef, and I worked for a catering company and I lost my job around March 7,” Jones said.
So now, he’s spending three days a week with a team of volunteers, using his professional culinary skills to prepare lunch for 100 low-income seniors who live at the nearby Silvercrest Apartments.
“This is probably the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life as far as how it makes me feel inside, I feel like I’m actually doing something,” Jones said.
He’s volunteered with the nonprofit in the past. And when leaders with the Broomfield Salvation Army Corps heard they could get a professional chef in their kitchen, they jumped at the chance.
The payoff comes when he knocks on each apartment door at lunchtime, delivering a meal to elderly residents who might not have any other social interaction all day long because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“They love seeing us, and we love seeing them,” Jones said.
Lots of people are finding a new purpose and a new passion in these new times. Count Jones among them. He may have lost his job, but he gained some important perspective about what’s important and what matters.
“I’m using my skills for a greater purpose right now,” he said.
Jones is one of hundreds of volunteers donating their time and expertise to the Salvation Army during the pandemic. The charity has already provided rent and bill assistance to hundreds of Colorado families, and prepared tens of thousands of free meals and food boxes in recent weeks. Now, they’re raising money to provide desperately needed items like canned food, dry goods, baby formula, diapers and wipes to local families. FOX31 and Channel 2 have partnered with the Salvation Army for a Virtual Food & Supply Drive. You can donate online.