2024 Jefferson Awards: QC woman cooking up plates of love

by themoneyoffice2.com@gmail.com March 1, 2024 · Food & Cooking

Yolanda Jefferson is using her love of food and desire to give to help Quad Cities community members who need meals.

DAVENPORT, Iowa — A Quad Cities woman is cooking up free meals of love five days a week for those who need to eat.

Yolanda Jefferson has been cooking professionally for nearly 40 years. She’s using her love of food and her desire to serve to give back to the Quad Cities community.

Jefferson is the owner of Chefy Bear on Wheels Community Project. She provides people breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday at her community kitchen in Davenport. Before opening the doors every morning, she goes live on Facebook to tell people what’s on the menu. You can watch her Facebook lives by clicking/tapping here.

“I have to use it to service the people that are needing it,” Jefferson said.

RELATED: 2024 Jefferson Awards: Providing a support system to people in the QCA with pancreatic cancer

Jefferson also delivers anywhere from 150 to 200 meals to homes every week. She’s a busy chef whose work isn’t going unnoticed.

“It’s a blessing, she was God sent down here to show her love,” community kitchen guest Vila Acker said.

Acker eats at Jefferson’s kitchen Monday through Friday.

“I just came here for resources to try to get an apartment and try to get help,” Acker said. “I didn’t know about no food and all that stuff. Just kind of came with it.”

Acker is one of many people Jefferson serves. Chefy Bear on Wheels Community Project kitchen is inside the Center Love In Action in Davenport. The center focuses on showing Christ’s love in three major areas; youth, homeless outreach and Community.

RELATED: 2024 Jefferson Awards: Meet the Monmouth duo giving animals a new opportunity in life

Jefferson will tell you, it doesn’t matter what your situation is, you are always welcome in her kitchen.

“People automatically equate hunger with homelessness, a lot of the people that come in here just throughout the month don’t have enough food in the house,” Jefferson said. ‘So they know this is a place where they can come and get food.”

Jefferson has various donors around the Quad Cities Area she gets ingredients and utensils from. She also pays out of her own pocket for a lot of the items she uses. Anyone can donate food to Chefy Bear on Wheels Community Project by calling Jefferson at (309) 631-1776 and she will pick up the items. Or people can bring donations to her kitchen located at 1411 N Brady St. in Davenport.

People can also make a monetary donation to Jefferson: