Former Top Chef Now a Servant

By Seth
Raymond Gonzalez, Social Services Director at Faith City Ministries (FCM), was bursting at the seams with a big story to tell, and his black eyes darted down the nicely painted hallways as he decided where would be a good place to begin. He settled on starting the tour in the kitchen.

The kitchen was bustling with activity as they began serving the first of three lunches that day; each lunch was representative of the different groups of people the organization reaches seven days a week: one for the “students,” both men and women who are going through a 12-month rehabilitation program that sees participants from addiction to productive lives with a great rate of success, another being families and single women who are currently homeless but are getting back on their feet while staying at the NE 2nd Avenue campus, and finally between 100 and 150 homeless people who need a meal. This three-meal process happens three times per day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“In a given month, we serve between 12 and 14 thousand meals. We’re the only organization in the area that is doing it right now on a daily basis,” said Raymond. Planning and cooking all of those meals would be a logistical nightmare for most people, but Raymond has a unique background.

He moved to Amarillo over 30 years ago, from Santa Fe, New Mexico, when he was 18. “I needed to leave. My parents didn’t think that Santa Fe was a good place for me. I wasn’t a good guy. So I came here with a one-way bus ticket, a suitcase, and a job reference from an old acquaintance. I started working as a busboy at the Amarillo Club.” Eventually, he apprenticed with one of the top five chefs in the country learning everything about a restaurant, from slicing vegetables to managing the food supply. He was even voted Amarillo’s Best Chef two years in a row while he worked at the Downtown Athletic Club. He shies away from those accolades now.

“I enjoyed those experiences, but it was never my passion. I don’t want people to remember me as just a chef, I want them to remember me as a servant,” he said. Which is why he is currently training one of the FCM students to manage the kitchen. He introduces Rick, a polite middle-aged man with a graying goatee and glasses.

“Rick just got promoted to the Interim Director of Food Services,” said Raymond. Rick is clearly pleased with his new title as it speaks a great deal about the progress he has made in the past several months.

Raymond continues the tour at the loading dock where food and donations are delivered. “We usually buy about $6,700 worth of food every month from the Food Bank and other vendors. It sure does help when people donate though, especially with Thanksgiving coming up. Turkeys and hams would be a blessing.”

In fact, Faith City Ministries is entirely funded by donations from individuals.
“We have some people who can give a lot, and we have some people who mail us 50 cents every month. That’s what they can afford. It’s all appreciated. There are always people who need to be fed, but we like to provide a place where these people still have some identity, where they feel like somebody. This place is more than just a soup kitchen. We have a shelter for children, we give out clothing, and we help with addiction; that’s why our name changed from Faith City Mission to Faith City Ministries.

For more information about donating to Faith City Ministries, please visit their website at www.faithcity.org, or give them a call at (806) 373-6402.