WELCH, WV (WOAY) – Inside the Welch Armory, where first responders and local officials have been working long hours on flood recovery efforts, there’s another kind of operation underway, one that smells a lot like home-cooked comfort food.
For more than a week, David Moore, a local pastor, has been in the kitchen at 8 am, cooking fresh meals every day for those working at the armory.
“Delegate David Greene asked me to help cook for the staff, the command center, the call center, the sheriff’s deputies, the state police, everybody working here,” Moore said. “And I said, ‘Yeah, we’ll do it.’”
But before they could fire up the ovens, they needed supplies.
“The church paid for all the food. I went to Bluefield and picked up pots, pans, knives, utensils, because the armory was a little lacking in that kind of stuff,” Moore said. “Then we went to Sam’s and Walmart, probably three times, and just bought all kinds of stuff. Beef and chicken and lasagna, whatever we thought everybody would like to eat.”
With the kitchen stocked and the pans at the ready, the cooking began.
“Barbara and I come in every morning, and we just throw stuff together that looks good, and hopefully it’s appealing,” Moore said. “Then we put it in the clamshell Styrofoam containers and feed everybody. And everybody seems to be happy.”
For Moore, cooking food is far more important than making sure the emergency personnel reach their calorie count, it’s a way to lift spirits and bring people together.
“I made my own chili—that was a real hit. I made my own spaghetti with smoked bacon in it, a burger and then kielbasa, onions, garlic, pepper… all that was a hit,” he said. “So if everybody’s full, they work harder, I guess. Or at least they’re happy.”
With delicious smells billowing out of the kitchen, these meals are a welcome break from fast food, so much so that one gentleman said that he wishes Moore would never leave.
“We’re getting a lot of compliments. And I think it’s just because it beats going to McDonald’s or some other fast-food place,” Moore said. “The smell really helps, too. It goes out into the armory, and then people wander by wanting to know when lunch is.”
What started as one pastor accepting the offer to cook quickly grew into a larger effort.
“First, I started for the first couple of days, and then Barbara got on board. She said yes, she’d help out,” Moore said. “We canceled church, and everybody in church was super involved with distributing donations—food, propane, clothes, all kinds of stuff.”
But the generosity didn’t stop there.
“We have ten people from our foundation that came down here to help out, and everybody’s just jumped on board,” he said.
Even West Virginia’s Secretary of State contributed, stopping by the armory to ask what was needed.
“He came in here the other day and he said, ‘What do you guys need?’ I think Barbara said, ‘Get us some beef.’ So he donated four or six big roasts and sent those down,” Moore said. “So we cooked those up today, we cut them all up, and we put them in the noodles. That’s what that is in there.”
Through it all, Moore says what stands out the most isn’t the food—it’s the way people have come together.
“The people in our county really care about their neighbors. They really care about helping out. Everybody else has just kind of put their plans on hold to go out and help their community. And that’s really what we ought to be doing. So I’m proud of everybody here. I think it’s awesome,” Moore said.
For Moore, this isn’t about getting recognition, it’s about doing the right thing.
“The Bible tells us that we ought to love our neighbor and take care of them,” Moore said. “Jesus said, ‘When you were hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink.’ And so I think that’s our Christian responsibility—to take care of our neighbor.”
Still, he doesn’t expect thanks.
“We don’t have to have a reward. We don’t even have to have thanks,” he said. “It’s just the right thing to do. And I think everybody at the armory is doing what they’re doing just because it’s the right thing to do. We care about our community.”
As recovery efforts push forward, more support is on the way. FEMA officially allocated aid last night, marking a critical step in McDowell County’s road to rebuilding.
