How Chef Quentin Love Gives Back to his Community #AtoZChallenge

Quentin Love has not had an easy life. Coming from a broken home on the mean streets of South Shore, Austin, he had been on the wrong side of the law influenced by gangs and drugs. He has risen and fallen numerous times. Which is why his turnaround is all the more inspiring.

Having gotten out of the gangs and later honorably discharged from the Marines, Quentin struggled with various ventures including running barber shops and dry cleaners. It was when he finally decided to give back to his community that his life began to turn around. Wanting to offer a healthier option, he started his first eatery in 2001, alongside his charity, The Love Foundation. Again, success was fleeting for over a decade. Determined to make a change and focus on giving rather than succeeding, Quentin changed things up again.

From 2013, his restaurant, The Turkey Chop Grill, would close for the paying public every Monday and only offer free food to those in need. He served elaborate meals - baked chicken, mac and cheese, spaghetti, red beans, rice and greens - to over 1000 poor people every day from his own pockets, giving over 60,000 meals in two years.

Money, however remained an issue with such kindness and so, Quentin took a gamble and appeared on celebrity chef Guy Fieri's show 'Grocery Games'. The special edition show had veterans from four military branches in a cook-off. Quentin won. His concept of focusing on giving rather than winning had finally paid off.

True to nature, Quentin has invested his winnings back in feeding the poor. From 1000 a day, he successfully fed 2000 for Thanksgiving that year. Even today, in Chicago, Quentin Love keeps the Turkey Chop Grill running, feeding healthy tasty food to everyone 6 days of the week and exclusively to the poor and homeless on Mondays.

“West Humboldt Park has a large number of homeless, including entire families, and the drug problem is horrendous. I wanted to show the community that people care and give those down on their luck an opportunity to embrace what’s good for them, starting with what they put in their bodies. And, maybe that might inspire them to do better in other aspects of their lives."

- Quentin Love

Author's note:

This is part of my #AtoZChallenge where I will be focusing on Real Life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion.

The list for this year's (2018) Heroes of Kindness can be found here.

Of course, I have been tracking these lovely human beings for years now and have found children as young as six years old and old women in their eighties from across the world who will restore your faith in humanity. You can find the entire list of Real-life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion here.