Mashaye Barr, executive chef, T. Rowe Price is One of 26 B&I Foodservices Heroes recognized by Food Management for making a difference over the past year
Owings Mills, MD, May 20, 2021
Nominator: John Drexel, Vice President, CulinArt Group
“Mashaye Barr cares deeply about the community and city in which she was raised. To that end, Mashaye spends a lot of spare time donating her culinary and other talents to various charities and causes that assist and support the homeless in the city of Baltimore.
When she is not overseeing daily meal production at T. Rowe Price and mentoring her staff, Mashaye is an Active Advising Board Member of DeaconChef Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to serve the homeless community in the Greater Baltimore area by providing resources for health, housing and hygiene that will renew hope for better living.
In 2018, Barr started working with DeaconChef Inc. to assist with Christmas service at the War Memorial Plaza in downtown Baltimore. She was then asked to join as an Advising Board Member, and she continues to support logistics for culinary events.
For example, on the day before Christmas Eve 2020, “I came into T. Rowe, managed my unit, and then went out into the field to serve Baltimore City with some of the most amazing chefs,” she says.
Their mission that day was to support the Franciscan Center and DeaconChef, both nonprofit organizations based in Baltimore, in ‘running’ the center’s first-ever ‘Serving ‘Round the Clock’ food marathon. From 8 a.m. Wednesday until 8 a.m. Thursday, the team of roughly 80 volunteers aimed to serve 2,500 meals. They ultimately delivered close to 2,000 meals, which included a Breakfast-Brunch (vegetable frittata, hash, sausage, and sunchokes) and an Overnight Dinner (brisket, BBQ chicken, Cornish hens, and sides). All meals were served at the Franciscan Center of Baltimore.
Barr spent many hours in the kitchen assisting in meal preparation while also providing the logistics and recruiting the chefs from around Baltimore and the D.C. area.
At other times, Barr took on the project of sewing 270-plus homemade face masks and distributing them to local Baltimore frontline workers, local small business restaurants, the Baltimore homeless population and church/charity collections.
Why is charity important to “’Chef ’Shaye,’ as she is known by staff members? ‘Because my family needed the same help in my earlier years,’ she says. ‘I understand what it was like to go to bed hungry. Everyone deserves a meal and to be served with dignity.’”
CATEGORY:
