72 F
Laguna Hills
Wednesday, May 13, 2026

30,000 Served a Week

Bracken’s Kitchen knows about feeding the needy. Since Chef Bill Bracken launched the nonprofit in 2013, he has combined food recovery with culinary training to feed those in the community who are in need.

Now, the need is greater than ever, and Bracken’s Kitchen is up to that challenge. Their industrial kitchen is making over 30,000 meals a week to give to local charities that distribute those meals to those they serve.

“I’ve been up since 3 a.m.,” Bracken said last week. “I have (a) lot of people helping or else we couldn’t do it.”

Thanks to grants from Wells Fargo, the OC Community Foundation and others, as well as private donations, Bracken has been able to hire additional staff to help prepare meals. It also didn’t hurt that the Good Day LA morning show recently featured Bracken’s Kitchen on its “Heroes Among Us” segment.

Bracken previously depended on recovered food from restaurants and grocery stores, but many of those sources have dried up. Bracken is doing everything he can, with the resources at his disposal, to maintain his 5,000 meals a day pace.

Donate at brackenskitchen.com.

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