Volunteer Sean Edwards hands out a meal at the Salvation Army’s Lied Dining Hall Tuesday, June 1, 2021. The dining hall reopened for the first time since the pandemic shutdown in March of 2020.
Wednesday, June 2, 2021 | 7:50 p.m.
As the line of hungry residents started to swell outside the Salvation Army of Southern Nevada near downtown earlier this week, chef Jeremy Wood couldn’t contain his excitement.
After being shuttered since the outset of the pandemic last March, the kitchen was reopened for in-person meals. Serving the community is personal for Wood, who was homeless for three years and relied on the kitchen for meals.
But he entered the group’s culinary training program and for the past eight years has been running the kitchen of five workers and many volunteers.
“This is extremely rewarding for me. I serve a lot of the people I was homeless with. For a lot of them, this is their only meal of the day,” Wood said.
That meal during the pandemic was a to-go package with food, water, a face mask, gloves and hand sanitizer. They would distribute 350 to 400 packages daily, officials said.
But this week, with Clark County fully reopen for business, the Lied Dining Hall on Owens Avenue again featured packed tables. On Tuesday, they served grilled chicken fajitas, rice and beans, and all of the fixings to about 250 residents.
Equally important: The residents got a reprieve from the Las Vegas heat, which cleared 100 degrees this week to bring a heat warning from county officials.
The Salvation Army’s shelter has been at full capacity of about 450 residents for months. The need was so great that they brought in 50 cots, said Juan Salinas, director of social services at Salvation Army of Southern Nevada.
They rely heavily on donations from community partners such as Three Square Food Bank or corporate sponsors.
Officials are looking for donations of bottled water, which are in short supply as the weather continues to get more warm. Donations can be made at 35 W. Owens Ave.
