Exploring Life & Business with Chef Hank Reid of Lettum Eat Inc.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chef Hank Reid.

Hi Chef Hank, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Food Is the Pathway. Community Is the Purpose. Well-Being Is the Outcome.

Lettum Eat! Inc. began in 2019 with a simple belief that continues to guide us today: Food has the power to strengthen communities.

After more than three decades in the food and restaurant industry, Chef Hank Reid began looking for a way to use his culinary experience to serve others. What started as an idea for a traditional food truck became something much greater—a mobile meal ministry built around a simple philosophy: Use what you have. Help where you can.

That philosophy was put to the test almost immediately. Lettum Eat began serving meals in early 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented hardship for families, children, seniors, and individuals throughout the community. With the support of churches, volunteers, donors, businesses, and community partners, Lettum Eat responded by preparing and distributing approximately 80,000 free meals during its first year of service.

From the beginning, Lettum Eat has believed in meeting people where they are. Through mobile meal distributions, food rescue, prepared meals, community feeding events, and partnerships throughout the community, the organization has provided more than 400,000 meals since its inception. But our work has taught us that food can do much more than satisfy hunger. Food can bring people together, share knowledge, create opportunities to serve, and build stronger communities.

That understanding has shaped our purpose: to strengthen communities through the power of food. Today, our mission is to build healthier, more resilient communities through food by nourishing people, sharing practical knowledge, and creating opportunities to connect and serve.

Our work is organized around three simple actions: Nourish. Connect. Equip. We nourish people by increasing access to meals and fresh food. We connect people by creating opportunities for neighbors, volunteers, organizations, and community partners to serve alongside one another. And we equip people by sharing practical knowledge and experiences that encourage greater food awareness, self-sufficiency, service, and community involvement.

As Lettum Eat has grown, so has our approach. The Community Kitchen will expand our capacity to prepare meals, provide culinary experiences, and create opportunities that support the long-term sustainability of our work. The Lettum Eat Specialty Farm extends the mission from preparing food to growing it—creating a place for fresh food production, agricultural education, youth and family programming, volunteerism, livestock experiences, and community connection.

Together, the mobile feeding program, Community Kitchen, and Specialty Farm represent a broader vision for community well-being. We envision communities where people are nourished, connected, equipped, and inspired to care for one another.

What began with one chef, a food truck, and a desire to help has grown into a community-centered organization with an enduring promise: People can count on Lettum Eat!

And we believe everyone has a role in what comes next. Whether someone gives food, shares knowledge, volunteers an afternoon, provides financial support, opens a door, or simply helps a neighbor, everyone has something to contribute.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Lettum Eat’s journey has not been without challenges. From launching its meal services at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to responding to a growing need for food assistance, the organization has often experienced community demand growing faster than the resources and infrastructure available to meet it.

Like many growing nonprofits, Lettum Eat has faced the challenge of balancing an expanding mission with limited and sometimes unpredictable funding. Food, fuel, insurance, staffing, vehicle maintenance, utilities, equipment, and program expenses continue whether donations and grants are strong or slow. At the same time, developing the Community Kitchen and transforming the 7.27-acre Specialty Farm into a productive community resource have required significant funding, infrastructure, equipment, and volunteer support.

Yet these challenges have helped shape who Lettum Eat is today. They have taught us to trust in the Lord’s provisions, build strong partnerships, maximize available resources, adapt when circumstances change, and remain focused on the people and communities we serve.

Through it all, our philosophy has remained simple: Use what you have. Help where you can.

Every challenge has strengthened our commitment to Nourish. Connect. Equip. and reinforced the strategic compass that guides our future.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Lettum Eat! Inc. extends beyond providing meals. We nourish through meals, fresh food, and food access; connect people through service, partnerships, and shared experiences; and equip individuals and families with practical knowledge and opportunities that encourage healthier, more resilient communities. The Lettum Eat Specialty Farm and our developing Community Kitchen are important parts of this vision, creating opportunities for agriculture, education, culinary experiences, volunteerism, youth engagement, and sustainable food production.

An important part of our long-term sustainability strategy is Certified Southern Catering, our affiliated catering enterprise. Certified Southern Catering allows Chef Hank Reid and our culinary team to use the same professional food-service experience behind Lettum Eat to serve weddings, corporate events, private celebrations, community gatherings, and other catered events. More importantly, the business provides an earned-income opportunity that can help financially support Lettum Eat’s charitable mission. Instead of relying exclusively on grants and donations, we are working toward a model where successful business activity can help generate resources that are reinvested into serving the community.

What sets us apart is the connection between good food, good business, and community impact. A catered event can become more than a transaction—it can contribute to a larger mission. Our goal is to demonstrate that nonprofit service and entrepreneurial thinking can work together to create a more sustainable model for community impact.

Brand-wise, we are most proud of the trust Lettum Eat has built. Our brand promise is simple: People can count on Lettum Eat! Whether we are responding to a family needing food, welcoming volunteers to the farm, working alongside a community partner, or preparing food for a catered event, we want people to experience consistency, quality, hospitality, and genuine care.

We also want people to understand that Lettum Eat is about more than fighting hunger. Food is our pathway, but community is our purpose. We envision communities where people are nourished, connected, equipped, and inspired to care for one another.

Our invitation is equally simple: Everyone has something to contribute. Some people donate. Some volunteer. Some provide resources or expertise. Others support the mission by choosing Certified Southern Catering for their next event. Every contribution matters.

Ultimately, the outcome we are working toward is community well-being. Whether through a meal served from one of our mobile programs, vegetables grown at the Specialty Farm, knowledge shared with a child, relationships formed through volunteering, or an event catered through Certified Southern Catering, everything connects back to one guiding principle:Food is the pathway. Community is the purpose. Well-being is the outcome.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
The quality most important to our success has been resourcefulness—the ability to use what we have to make a meaningful difference.

From the beginning, Lettum Eat has never waited for perfect circumstances, unlimited funding, or every resource to be in place before serving. We have learned to recognize opportunities, build strong partnerships, adapt to challenges, and maximize the people, skills, food, facilities, and resources available to us.

That mindset is captured in our service philosophy: “Use what you have. Help where you can.”

Equally important is our commitment to relationships. Our success has been built through the trust of volunteers, donors, businesses, churches, community partners, and the people we serve. We understand that no single organization can strengthen a community alone.

Ultimately, our success comes from combining resourcefulness, relationships, and a genuine commitment to service. We believe everyone has something to contribute, and when those contributions are brought together around a common purpose, meaningful and lasting change becomes possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lettumeat.com
• Instagram: Lettumeat
• Facebook: Lettumeat