Let me take you back a couple of years. I was immensely fortunate to be introduced by a mutual friend to a woman named Stacie Archer. You will learn more about her in the process of reading this post, but if you are lucky you will meet in her in person one day and then you will see what a dynamic and devoted person, she is to selflessly help others. The friend we both know is incredibly philanthropic. His name is Bob Dickinson and was, for a very long period one of the highest-ranking executives at ‘Carnival Cruise Lines’. I got to know Bob first as a loyal guest at my restaurant, the original NORMAN’S in Coral Gables, Florida. In time Bob was also central to hosting some of the most generous charity events we did in our long history there. Years passed, as years will. One day he suggested to Stacie that she might wish to contact me and tell me about the non-profit work she was doing with the ‘Camillus House’. Look that organization up if you want to learn about one of the country’s best in the world of fighting the pains of homelessness and food insecurity. Stacie did. In a few days we met for lunch and a now cherished aspect of my life was born that afternoon. She told me of how had fought back from food insecurity in her own life and the lives of her children. She was, (and remains) resourceful which is a total understatement. At the onset of her program, she leaned into the technology that has changed the landscape of communication in many positive ways by teaching cooking classes out of her home via zoom. The program was all due to her selfless energies. She asked me if I might be able to help identify the top chefs in South Florida and see if they would follow her example and be willing to teach a class. I understood the value of embracing the chef community as I’ve done so many charity events with them over the decades of working in this region. We formed an alliance. She christened it, ‘Get Cooking’. Soon I had assembled a list of chefs that operate many of the very best restaurants in the city. I needed one chef per month to take us out into the community that first year. I am beyond grateful that every single one of them I asked signed up. I got back to Stacie with my progress. She looped in not only the Camillus House but then the added powerhouse of Florida International University. FIU Dean Michael Cheng was instrumental in the program. Dean Cheng was able to get us a great teaching kitchen at FIU and with another partner, ‘Global Pro’ we had the technology to reach families residing in an assisted living program named, ‘Verde Gardens’ in the Homestead area. Stacie had been working out the template for close to a year. Now we had the University, which was very helpful to the rotation of chefs, since most of them knew it from the many events they’d participated in there over the years. During this period, I met Stacie often to work on our plans and dreams.
In December of 2021 I met Stacie and taught the first class out of FIU. She was the gracious MC and culinary assistant. Over the ensuing months she had the near herculean task of getting tons of information from our chefs i.e., recipes, to shopping guides to equipment needs for each of the monthly classes. The fine folks at the Camillus House were crucial in that they, through their volunteer program, got ‘meal kits’ prepared so the residents taking the classes didn’t have that expense. Plus ‘Team Camillus’ got those kits delivered to the families at Verde Gardens.
As anyone or any group who has been part of a ‘start up’ knows the path is larded with obstacles, changes of plans, funding flame outs and then the miraculous wins that can happen too.
Then another change came our way. Stacie, as I said, is a mother with amazing children. While she had moved from Orlando to Miami for a period of time, she realized her children missed the schools they had been attending in the years before up in Orlando. The family moved back. But the need for helping the community was now more deeply in her heart than ever. During those zoom classes she hosted each month brought her virtually into people homes and into their lives. She was so touched by the power of teaching and reaching primarily mothers and their children that she essentially said to herself, “this can’t end in Miami”. She reached out to me once again. As life can show us and our mother’s told us, “One door opens, and another door opens”. I coincidentally was in the midst of reopening our long-running restaurant in Orlando in 2023 this time in a new location. Stacie asked, “Norman, do you think you might have time to help me again and take this program up there?” We had always talked about how the need for teaching and helping folks learn more about cooking and healthy living across the nation. Maybe this was the next step? She moved the needle again. This time with a new school. I, along with the other generous chefs in the program will be teaching from the ‘Walt Disney World Center for Culinary Arts and Tourism at Valencia College’. Our premier sponsorship comes from the extraordinary people and organization, ‘Florida Blue. Volunteer and various other forms of support arrive via the superhuman, super kind John Rivers of ‘4Roots Farm’. We have also been given a wonderful donation from Healthy West Orange.
Following our Miami template, I was now on the mission of finding another year of chefs in the Orlando community to give of themselves and volunteer to teach a class out of Valencia as we had done in Miami at FIU.
Having operated NORMAN’S in Orlando at our previous location for sixteen years I had many excellent chef friends to call on. There were some I had not met yet, but though the industry knew them to be of excellent reputations. I reached out to 16 of them. With 12 months to fill I didn’t expect them all to say yes. But they did! So now we have an ‘A list’, and the list is growing. I have the names of another half dozen that are lined up for our next year.
Next week we kick off “Get Cooking” in Orlando. I will include the growing list of the names of the Chefs who will teach following the same guidelines as we instilled in Miami. The meals must be budgeted to cost no more than $20.00 for ‘a family of four’. The ingredients need to be obtained from the kinds of grocery stores these families can afford. The list of ingredients limited to what healthy home cooking is all about. And that the class can be taught in about 45 minutes. The Miami chefs took to it like ducks to water. I am confident our Orlando culinary team will do the same. It may be a surprise to some, but many chefs are inspired by the kind of home cooking they themselves grew up with. Throughout all of 2024 and into 2025 we will be teaching and seeking to expand community awareness and appreciation for ‘Get Cooking’. Stacie and I are so grateful for our partners and the chance to, once again, reach families who will be able to benefit from the knowledge of our participating, wonderful Chefs and the generosity of our sponsors and colleagues in compassion.