Celebrity Chef Joey Morelli Shares His Experiences Cooking For Hungry Orphans In Cambodia
Highland Park, Oct. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highland Park, Illinois -
Chicago celebrity chef Joey Morelli is cooking for underprivileged children around the world through his charitable organization Joey’s Food Fight.
Joey is on a mission to empower and educate children in orphanages worldwide through the power of cooking. By teaching children in orphanages worldwide valuable culinary and life skills, Joey aims to make them self-sufficient and confident individuals who can overcome the bad hand that life dealt them. He documents his journey in great detail on his YouTube and TikTok channels where he regularly uploads content of him cooking for kids as well as his adventures in different parts of the globe.
Joey made his first trip to Cambodia in July 2022. He visited the Hope for Silent Voices Hope House orphanage in Phnom Penh and helped the children there learn how to buy fresh produce and cook delicious meals within their limited budget. He also upgraded the kitchen with appliances such as stoves, ovens, grills, and a refrigerator. All his videos during his first trip to the Hope House orphanage are available on his TikTok channel at https://www.tiktok.com/@joeysfoodfight.
In one of the latest uploads on his YouTube channel, titled “A Heartfelt Farewell”, Joey shares his experience during his second trip to the Hope House Orphanage that began in January 2023. In the video, Joey cooks a full Italian meal for kids including a pasta dish that includes beef, pork, and chicken sausage along with peppers, onions, and shiitake mushrooms. The sauce is finished off with a generous helping of white wine and chicken broth. The pasta dish is paired with a rich earthy green Thai curry with tomatoes, coconut milk, onions, garlic, and more.
Later, he shares his visit to Phnom Penh’s garbage district, Stung Meanchey, where he participated in a charity drive along with the Hope for Silent Voices founder Eric Lyons. During the drive, Joey helped distribute food, over 25 kilos of rice each, to over 150 families. Joey commented on the experience by saying, “These folks are incredibly joyous, incredibly happy, incredibly loving, genuine smiles.”
Towards the end of the video, Joey also shares his last day in Phnom Penh. The children gathered to thank him for his help with one young girl saying, “Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for your time, the food, and all the things that you bought for the Hope House.” Joey responds to the outpouring of love by saying, “It’s not goodbye. It’s see you next time. Forevermore, this is my second home.”
After returning to the United States, Joey continued his mission to help local charities and initiatives in any way possible. He partnered with Catholic Charities to cook for over 100 migrant kids, many of them displaced due to the war in Ukraine, who arrived in Chicago earlier this year. Joey arrived at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church where he met up with Doug and Mike to cook beef stew, macaroni and cheese with broccoli, and cabbage slaw.
Talking about his purpose for partnering with Catholic Charities, Joey says, “It’s not political to say that we just want to feed children, adults, and whoever we can. That’s why Joey’s Food Fight is there - just to feed people. That’s why Chicago Help Initiative was founded – feed whoever needs to be fed and give them love.”
For his next trip, Joey has partnered with the Self Reliance Ukrainian Association to visit a town named Stryy in West Ukraine. He flew into Warsaw, Poland first where he took a car into the war-torn nation. In Ukraine, Joey will be cooking for the wives of the soldiers fighting on the frontlines of the war, their kids, and other refugees. He will be in the country for a month cooking for everyone who needs help in these tumultuous times. Joey promises to learn all about Ukraine, cook, upload videos, and take his viewers along for the journey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwLK1mvVmaA
Readers are urged to find out more about Joey’s Food Fight and donate to the cause by visiting https://www.joeysfoodfight.com.
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For more information about Joey's Food Fight, contact the company here:
Joey's Food Fight
Joey Morelli
(847) 997-0407
joey@joeysfoodfight.com
Joey’s Food Figh
191 Skokie Valley Road
Highland Park IL 60035
CONTACT: Joey Morelli