My faith and my family have taught me that what we are given carries a responsibility to serve. In our family, care took a practical form. You opened the door. You made room. You shared what you had. Those gestures taught me that another person’s hardship deserves a response, and that sometimes the most useful response is something as ordinary as a meal.
Food is one of the ways I put that belief into practice. A meal can bring relief to someone facing a difficult day, give a family a moment together, and remind a person that they matter. That is the heart of my philanthropy: nourishment, dignity, and showing up for people.
Before Horn Barbecue opened its doors, serving the community was already part of our work. With Nina, our team, volunteers, and community partners, I have used the fire to feed people, support families, and contribute to causes that care for others. Every effort has depended on people willing to offer their time, resources, and care. I am grateful for everyone who has helped make that work possible.
Raphael House — Supporting families as they rebuild
Raphael House holds a special place in our family’s heart. Its work helps families experiencing homelessness find shelter and move toward stable housing. Over the years, I have donated barbecue masterclasses and auction experiences to support that mission. Nina and I are grateful for the opportunity to stand alongside an organization devoted to helping parents and children rebuild their lives with dignity.
Behind that work are parents trying to find their footing and children who deserve the security of a home. Their lives continue long after a gala ends or an auction closes. Supporting Raphael House means contributing to the people who remain beside those families as they take the next step. For us, the purpose is personal: families deserve care, stability, and the opportunity to move forward.
The Horn Initiative — Feeding our neighbors
When the pandemic delayed the opening of Horn Barbecue in 2020, we turned our attention to the people around us. Through the Horn Initiative, we served thousands of free meals to frontline workers, first responders, families, and neighbors facing hardship.
There was a great deal we could not control. We could still tend the fire, prepare the food, and put a meal into someone’s hands. With Nina, our team, volunteers, and community partners, we did the work we knew how to do. The initiative grew from a simple conviction: when people need food, we can use what we know to help.
Caring for those who care for others
In 2020, I joined volunteers, including the Street Royalty Motorcycle Club, to prepare and donate approximately 600 barbecue sandwiches for staff at Valley Children’s Hospital in Fresno. It was one way to thank the people caring for children and families during an uncertain time.
People whose work is to care for others have needs of their own. Bringing them a meal gave us an opportunity to offer some care in return, and to recognize the responsibility they carried each day.
Thanksgiving — Serving in the midst of adversity
Our Thanksgiving turkey giveaways have helped Oakland families gather around their own tables. In November 2023, the day after a fire devastated Horn Barbecue, we continued that commitment and distributed approximately 150 turkeys.
I was still trying to understand what had happened to the place we had worked so hard to build. There was grief, uncertainty, and a great deal we could not yet answer. But families were counting on us. Thanksgiving was approaching. Their needs had not disappeared because ours had become urgent.
We gave out the turkeys.
I return to that moment because it taught me something I am still learning. Adversity can make your world very small. It can consume your attention until every thought returns to what you have lost and how you will survive. Serving someone else gives you a reason to look up. It asks something of you, even when you are tired. It reminds you that you still have something to offer.
Even in a difficult moment for our family and team, we were grateful to serve.
Community partnerships — Making more possible together
Giving has always been a shared effort. Our work has included collaboration with the Golden State Warriors’ Home Court Assist program and a 2020 Made In sheet-pan collaboration benefiting the Horn Initiative. These relationships helped connect our craft with the resources needed to support community meals.
A meal reaches someone’s hands because people have worked together to make it possible. Partners contribute resources. Volunteers give their time. Teams prepare and serve the food. That shared responsibility has been essential to our work.
Supporting the people behind hospitality
I have also brought my cooking to charitable events supporting fellow food and beverage workers, including Southern Smoke. In 2019, I joined a benefit dinner supporting the staff of Bryan Furman’s B’s Cracklin’ Barbecue after a fire.
The people who spend their lives feeding others deserve support when hardship reaches their own door. Participating in these efforts is one way to care for the people whose labor and dedication sustain our industry.
Continue the work with us
My faith gives this responsibility its foundation. I believe the gifts God has entrusted to me carry an obligation to care for people. My ability to cook, the relationships I have built, and the opportunities I have received all become more meaningful when they can bring some relief to another person’s life.
I want the person receiving our food to feel the same attention we give any guest. Their circumstances should never diminish the care they receive. A meal offered freely deserves patience, good ingredients, and the respect of being prepared well.
I am still building. I am still learning how to carry responsibility through difficult seasons. Serving remains part of that work. As our work grows and changes, family, dignity, and nourishment remain at its center.
If your organization has a community meal, charitable event, or fundraising opportunity you would like us to consider, we welcome the conversation.
When I ask what I can do with what is in my hands today, the answer often begins where it always has: prepare the food, make room, and welcome someone to the table.
