"Retired" chef Gary Irvin spent more than 20 years as an executive chef in restaurants and corporate kitchens, but now he uses his culinary skills and what he calls a better way - caring for others.
He started a nonprofit called Soup Angels, which feeds unhoused Dallas neighbors and animals through homemade, comforting soup.
NTX Now's Miranda Suarez sat down with Irvin to talk about where the idea for his non-profit came from.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To hear the full conversation, click the 'listen' button above.
Irvin describes Soup Angels as street outreach. On the weekends, anyone in need can get soup from him. But he says he tries to make his way out to the community.
"I try to focus on the street, because it's really where the need is the most," he said. "There's not a lot of organizations actually going out on the streets and walking around and helping feed the people that are out there that need something to eat. Soup Angels is really just a soup street outreach organization."
Irvin makes soup seven days a week. His goal is to make 1,500 portions of soup a week.
"I have two freezers, and I fill those freezers because I save those for soups that are on the weekends, but it's just constant," Irvin said. "One day I go out and I feed people, and one day I spend the whole day making soups. But I literally get up to make soups every day."
To do all this work takes a village. Irvin says the community helps him by buying containers, bringing ingredients over to his house or contributing to his Amazon wish list.
"Whatever I can get from people, I turn into food," he said.
In Wylie, the community has stepped up in support of Soup Angels.
"For some reason the whole city of Wylie has gotten behind me, and they collect food once a week from all their pantries and bring it to me," Irvin said. "So without Wylie's food pantries, we wouldn't be an organization."
Irvin says he has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), which made it hard to continue working in a traditional kitchen. Standing in the heat for too long caused him to become dizzy. But instead of fully retiring from doing what he loves, he adjusted and can feed others on his own schedule.
"I had to alter my life," he said. " I can't be a chef anymore, because I can't stand on my feet for 10 hours a day in a hot environment, so I wanna do something different. And I was already feeding people. I've been doing this my whole life."
Miranda Suarez is a co-host of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org.
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