ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Shawarma King food truck owner Ahmad Alaraj believes a good chef can cook anywhere and proved it last week by prepping hot meals under a tent on a road in a St. Petersburg mobile home park for residents whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Idalia.
“As a chef we manage,” he said. “It’s very important to at least have a good meal to keep your spirit up.”
Alaraj would normally cook inside his food truck, but it was parked in a lot off Gandy Boulevard North when Hurricane Idalia brushed by the Pinellas coast and was flooded.
“It was the saddest moment of my life looking at the food truck,” he said. “That day I sat home and I cried.”
The engine, electrical and generator were all ruined, but despite being a storm victim himself, The Shawarma King chef was more concerned about helping others and sprang into action.
Since Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Aug. 30, Alaraj said he and his team have given away more than 5,500 hot meals to storm victims. They were in Crystal River at the Daystar Life Center for eight straight days.
“We’re doing good causes by going out and feeding the community and that’s making us joyful,” he said. “Even though we’re not in a food truck, we’re still out there cooking, doing what we love.”
The executive director of Daystar Life Center, AnnMarie Briercheck, said Alaraj put the needs of others before himself.
“The amazing act of kindness that Ahmad displayed had a life-changing effect on our storm victims,” she said. “Ahmad never paused to think about himself and the damage he experienced losing his food truck during the storm.”
Alaraj said after checking on his food truck shortly after the storm passed, he saw the Twin City mobile home park had been flooded and the water was waist high.
“I discovered this community, and they were all in the front parking lot just watching their homes,” he said. “We rushed to Arby’s and got 40 sandwiches just to pass out on a little paddle boat.”
Alaraj’s fiancé, Eleni Vasiliadis, said seeing the residents out in those conditions was heartbreaking.
“We had seen lots of children, people with pets and their cars. They were soaking wet,” she said. “They were just standing, and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh. What are they going to do?’”
The couple has returned to the mobile home park a few times since with home-cooked meals to give away and the residents said they greatly appreciate it.
“This is extremely helpful,” said resident Tabitha Vavrick. “The bills are coming in and the repairs are steep and so this helps out a lot.”
Alaraj feels a calling to help those in need. He began his dream of being a food truck owner in February 2021 and would give away his extra food at the end of the night. The couple also gave away free meals around the holidays.
Last year, after Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida, they drove The Shawarma King food truck to Fort Myers and handed out 800 meals for free. Alaraj said he can sympathize with storm survivors because when he was a child Hurricane Charley knocked a tree onto his family’s home and they didn’t eat a hot meal for a while.
“As a child, not having a hot meal and eating just crackers and peanut butter for a week straight, it traumatized us,” he said. “It made us want to give back to the community.”
Alaraj said he’s still waiting to find out how much his insurance will cover to repair his food truck and worries his dream may be over.
“I don’t have the funds to fix it,” he said. “I’m worried about closing doors. It’s hurting our business because we work so hard to be out there every week.”
Despite facing tens of thousands of dollars in repairs to his food truck, Alaraj said he has spent about $3,000 of his own money buying food to give away. He also started a GoFundMe page to provide more meals for those in need.
“They could just donate $5,” he said. “It’ll feed one meal.”
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