- Rock star legend Dave Grohl helped cook meals at a Los Angeles shelter during a major storm.
- Writer Liz Seccuro tweeted a photo of Grohl, who brought his own smoker and cooked for 16 hours.
On February 22, most people in Los Angeles battened down the hatches to prepare for the massive rain and snowstorm heading towards the city. But rock legend Dave Grohl wasn't staying in. Instead, he drove to the nonprofit organization Hope the Mission with his two giant BBQ smokers and several friends. Together they bought, prepared, cooked, and served 450 dinners for people seeking shelter.
"He provided the food and the time and got caught cooking over 24 hours in the middle of the storm last week," Hope the Mission's director of development Grace Ancheta told Insider over email.
She continued: "Dave cooked over 450 dinners for several of our shelters and stayed to serve his food to all of our participants at the Trebek Center shelter."
Grohl's presence at the shelter was documented by a writer on Twitter named Liz Allman Seccuro, who shared an image of the rockstar in the kitchen.
"Paid for it all. Worked 16 hours," she wrote. "So when the aliens get here and ask 'Who's in charge?' I think we take them to Dave Grohl."
—Liz Allman Seccuro (@LizSeccuro) February 28, 2023
Here's a full version of her image, sent to us by Hope the Mission:
The Trebek Center shelter where Grohl volunteered is one of many locations where Hope the Mission serves the people of Los Angeles and raises funds for opening additional family shelters. While Grohl was cooking in the storm, the nonprofit's founder Ken Craft and president Rowan Vansleve were in the middle of a fundraising run from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.
"Ken and Rowan are currently in day 12 of the run which they estimate will take about 21 days," Ancheta said in the mail.
By the looks of the photos, Grohl and his friends worked through most of the night to keep the meat cooking and then helped prep sandwiches and sides for a complete dinner plate.
In the days following Grohl's visit, the Los Angeles area was hit with a massive amount of rain and even snow, depending on the altitude of people's neighborhoods. This meant added dangers and risks for unhoused and unsheltered people. And it seems that many more LA residents will need added support (and hot meals) in the coming month.
"UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said about 20% of forecast models are currently depicting a very strong and warm atmospheric river storm in California around mid-March," the LA Times reported on Wednesday, a week after Grohl's visit to the shelter. Those atmospheric "river storms" already peppered across California at the very start of 2023, which led to breaching levees and "nearly two dozen deaths."
For more on Hope the Mission, you can see projects and stories on the nonprofit's Instagram page.