This month marks the one year anniversary of Pauline Auguste working as a Food Services Director at CHiPS, but it feels like she’s been running it forever. From serving over 400 meals daily to managing *thankfully* unending food supply, rebuilding pantry after floods and storms, and helping volunteers find the most efficient ways to cut dozens of melons – Pauline can do it all.
| We know you have extensive experience in culinary. Can you tell us about it? I started my career in a completely different field, as a certified nursing assistant. From there I changed direction and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management. I’ve always been passionate about food thanks to my West Indian heritage and growing up as a child, learning from my mom in the kitchen. This is where my love for food was ignited, nurtured and grew. I’ve worked all over New York City, from Benoit, an upscale French bistro in midtown Manhattan to a modern Asian fusion restaurant to a private beach club in West Hamptons Beach. I was a Garde Manger, which in the high-cuisine language, means a person in charge of the “cold side” of the kitchen: appetizers, salads, etc. I also did a six-month internship at Disney Boardwalk in Orlando where I catered for thousands of people at private events. It was a fantastic experience and it taught me so much. They wanted me to stay, but I chose to come back to New York. So, yes, I have a very extensive culinary background, but I’m also experienced in food management. My last job before CHiPS was for the NYC Department of Education. I was a Food Service Manager for four schools with a staff of twenty people to manage and over twenty thousand kids to feed. I loved interacting with children and providing them with healthy meals. That was when I started to transition from culinary to management and supervising. By that point, I knew I wanted to do more, for my work to be impactful and meaningful. That was when I saw online an opening at CHiPS. It is a crazy story because I applied on Friday night and got a reply on Saturday morning. In two weeks, I had a job. It was exactly a year ago, in October 2022. What surprised you the most when you came to work at CHiPS? I can tell you something not surprising but heart-wrenching. Last winter we had a massive wave of asylum seekers coming to us. Something that would never leave me was seeing them at our door, wearing T-shirts, no coats, and seeing the kids with no shoes on. I had to walk away for a moment because I was tearing up. I was so glad that we could quickly expand the amount of help to meet the needs of these new people. They were so grateful. But there is the other side to our work. Yes, serving a community is beautiful, but we also meet disgruntlement and rudeness. That was surprising at first, and some of our guests can be mean. So, to do this job, you absolutely must love it. It’s hard and labor-intensive. Waking up every morning and coming to CHiPS, I love what I do, I love the fact that we’re giving back to the community. People are coming not only from all over Brooklyn but from the Bronx and East New York, and I am glad that we can provide for them. When the asylum seekers came in, you’ve almost doubled the food to give out. How did you manage the rapid growth? In the beginning, it was a learning curve. In the organization’s history, there have never been numbers this high. When I started, I was told we would serve 180-200 people daily. Now we’re serving over 400. But the funding has also increased, so we could purchase more food and expand our pantry. Now, we provide not only the standard pantry bags but also bags for people who don’t have access to a traditional kitchen. You serve over 400 meals daily and over 150 pantry bags weekly. How many employees and volunteers do you have in the Food Service? We are a staff of eight, myself included, and around twenty volunteers come daily. We rely on them heavily. This organization has been volunteer-based pretty much from the beginning. It blew my mind when I found out that before, there were no staff, just volunteers. They literally ran this place! Volunteers enjoy coming here and tend to come back for more shifts. How do you achieve that? We treat everybody who comes to our door with respect. We are a small but very experienced team, and we know very well what we need to do daily. Volunteers come, we greet them, set them to the stations, and explain tasks. We are very detail-oriented, so there is no misunderstanding, no confusion. We explain it in full and simplify it as much as we can. We also turn on music and try to have a good time so that volunteers not only do the shifts but have a good experience. And our chef, Matthew, is phenomenal with how he runs his kitchen (you can read more about his approach in our blog). Volunteers don’t have to show up, but they do. It makes us feel good and proud because it means we’re doing something right. How do you like to spend time outside of work? I try to recharge my batteries, so I don’t do much. On a weekend, I kid you not, I lay on my sofa. I also love nature, so I go to the park nearby. It helps soothe my mind and gives me tranquility. Also, I am a beach girl, the ocean relaxes and mellows my peace. And a bit of shopping never hurts. It’s a very relaxing activity too! To volunteer at CHiPS check our Get Involved page If you are a corporate representative or business owner and your company would like to become a donor, please contact us via email at shanice@chipsonline.org |