Thousands more meals have been served today. Thousands more tomorrow as we're now in two communities. If you haven't yet helped our Hurricane Laura relief efforts, please go here to help sponsor 20 or more meals, and see below for my update. -- Gary

A gentlemen pulled up in his car to our Mercy Chefs base of operations a few days ago with a puzzled look on his face.

He knew me by name. He had done some research about Mercy Chefs on our website. But he had a few questions...

"I can't figure out why you're here," he said. "You're not FEMA. You weren't sent from a major corporation. Y'all are working so hard for our community for nothing. I don't get it."

I hear questions like that more than you might think. It's hard for people to figure out why chefs and staff and volunteers would come from across the country just to cook hot meals and hand out cold water to people in their community who have been hit by a disaster. They can't figure out what's "in it" for us!

I explained to him that this was our simple and pure mission -- to just feed people. To provide chef-quality meals that help bring hope to people whose lives have been devastated by natural disaster or hardship. Then, he said this...

"I just want to thank you. You have no idea what a hot meal means right now; how much you have encouraged us and helped sustain us."

I also let folks like this know that we couldn't serve even one meal -- never mind thousands every day -- if it weren't for the generosity of faithful partners across the country.

Today, our team is back at it, working basically sunup to long after sundown, preparing high-quality meals for these folks. Yesterday, we deployed a third mobile kitchen to the region and are now operating in two cities, reaching some of the hardest hit folks in this entire area.

Simply put, we need help today so we can provide these high quality meals that are meeting a deep-felt need here. In just the next few days, we'll serve thousands of meals, and each meal needs a faithful sponsor. Will you help? Go here to make your tax-deductible gift directly to Mercy Chefs:

If you haven't yet had the opportunity to sponsor meals for Hurricane Laura victims, please do so today! Just $50 will help provide 20 hot meals; $100 will help equip us to serve 50 people a chef-prepared meal and a cup of cold water! If you donated recently, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your generosity is making a real difference in people's lives right now.

Each meal carries with it a powerful message. It says, "Someone cares." And not just our chefs, staff and volunteers -- friends like you care enough to sacrifice to sponsor 10, 20, 50, or even 100 meals.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support, and God bless.

Gary LeBlanc, Mercy Chefs