Join Chef Wayne in Fighting Hunger and Fostering Community

You may say that I'm a dreamer....I hope I'm not the only one...

Don't Panic Catering is a self-sufficient, mobile catering business with a dual mission: providing high-quality catering services while using surplus revenue to support food donations through the Pat’s Soup of the Day Coalition (Please read more about Pat at the bottom of this page). During Chef Wayne's time at the helm of the Smoke and Lolas Restaurant in Bristol, VT he gave away over 9,000 cups of soup to the Bristol community. We have refurbished an old Military MKT or Mobile Kitchen Trailer. Our mobile kitchen will travel across different parts of the U.S in the summer providing free nutritional meals to marginalized communities and those living under the poverty line or in the streets with no consistent access to food. We will be using sustainable, quiet energy sources so as not to create excess sound, light and general pollutants. Our mentality will always be 'pack it in, pack it out' leaving no trace and this includes waste water. The goal is to become a year round operation providing our services to as many people in need as possible; but we have to start somewhere! Ultimately we would love to provide disaster relief assistance, however our first goal is to provide those in need now with nutritional free meals and a place to proverbially and literally break bread. Through gathering around a table with a meal and compassionate, diverse company we aim to provide a safe space for people to gather, converse, connect, eat and start to heal the divisiveness within our communities across the nation. The mission is to create a community-driven operation that fosters dignity, respect, and support for those in need.

Our GoFundMe goal reflects the costs we estimate to have in the coming months as we finish the mobile kitchen and buy the bus that will tow the kitchen and be home to Chef Wayne and Don't Panic Catering. Finishing the kitchen will include adding fresh water, grey water, electrical and refrigeration. Chef Wayne has been working hard to re-purpose and re-design the MKT to be self contained and have the capacity to serve upwards of 300 people, 3 meals a day or potentially more if serving fewer meals depending on the menu.

There are a number of people who have agreed to donate their time, skills and craftmanship to assisting in this process as they believe in the mission of Don't Panic Catering and Pat's Soup of the Day Coalition. Their assistance along with the support of our community is a massive part of what is making this mission possible.

We will be updating this page with videos and news as things progress.

Regardless of if you donate or not we really appreciate you visiting our page and reading about our passion project born from a true commitment to helping those in need.

The story and the person behind Pat's Soup of the Day:

At Smoke and Lola’s, everyone can get a cup of soup for free. We don’t charge for soup. It’s available when we’re open, and will be as long as our doors are open.

Chef Wayne’s dear friend Pat Peters, who has since passed away, invited people into her home on her day off work for a home cooked soup from scratch. She believed that everyone deserves a warm meal, no matter your circumstances.

At Smoke and Lola’s, we aim to carry on this tradition and bring awareness to the invisible hunger that exists in our communities and among our neighbors. According to Hunger Free Vermont, 2 in 5 people in Vermont experience hunger every day. A number that has significantly increased since 2020.

Chef Wayne makes all of our soups from scratch with the inspiration of Pat in his heart.

Please visit the following link to watch a WCAX video featuring Pat and a story on her 'soup of the day' movement.

WCAX Pat's Soup of the Day

Additionally, Chef Wayne's restaurant Smoke and Lolas was featered in a list of resources for those that are food insecure, the link is below:

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