Making an IMPACT

Founded in April 2020, Chef Lou’s Army continues to provide FREE Chef Prepared meals to Monmouth and Ocean County families. See in Patch.com, how the Army’s support and our recent grant from NJEDA helped through the holidays and read more at APP.com about those impacted by the pandemic.

Thank you for the support!

Mission

To prepare and deliver chef prepared, ready-to-eat FREE nutritional meals to those most deserving throughout our New Jersey  Communities

Vision

To become the nationwide, community-by-community provider of remote, ready-to-eat, FREE nutritional meals for those who deserve it most.

Our Pandemic Pressured Pivot

Realized on the eve of the COVID19 pandemic, Chef Lou Smith needed to pivot and protect his restaurant staff, his family and help his community.

COVID19 pandemic forced all Americans – to stay healthy, stay home and social distancing became the ‘new norm.’ Work, play, school, entertainment, and even life’s essentials (food, toiletries, medical) … all required to become remote-ready. Police, fire, EMS, doctors, nurses, grocery store cashiers, truck drivers… all essential workers risking their exposure to COVID-19 with every shift worked.

In mid-March 2020, Chef Lou’s Army quickly mobilized the support of our community and leveraged idle New Jersey restaurant partners to Feed the Frontlines and our Seniors.

CHEF LOU’s ARMY MILESTONES

To legally galvanize Chef Lou’s vision of providing front-lines personnel of all types impacted by COVID19 with free, prepared, nutritional meals, #MarchTo50KMeals and Chef Lou’s Army (CLA), a non-profit, was born on April 20th 2020. CLA contracted the Foundation Group and successfully applied for tax-exempt status via Form 1023 on March 9th 2021.

Chef Lou’s Army has quickly evolved into a modern, fluid, scalable operation and continues to feed our front lines personnel and our communities regularly.

April 2021: Sold-out 1st Annual Golf Outing