MAYFIELD, Ky. — A Georgia family is living in an RV and cooking free meals for Mayfield tornado victims and volunteers.
The recovery process in Mayfield will take years, likely, and a family from Georgia plans to be in town for months preparing food for anyone who needs it.
75-year-old Roberta Carmickle leads this family-run volunteer kitchen.
“January 12th was my birthday. I was 75, so I told my husband that I want to stay three more months and feed everybody, the construction guys, whoever wants food,” Carmickle told Spectrum News 1.
The family arrived a few days after an EF-4 tornado struck, wiping out most of the downtown Mayfield.
Even as many families are displaced, the small city in western Kentucky is busy with crews demolishing homes and clearing debris.
On top of that, a large volunteer presence is in Mayfield helping families repair and rebuild homes. Carmickle wants to feed them all as she shows off her kitchen trailer.
“Triple-hole sink, handwashing sink and the health inspector came by and she said I passed everything,” said Carmickle.
They set the food trailer up for the moment in the downtown bank parking lot across from the damaged fire department. Roberta’s husband Hank delivers many of the prepared meals to different work sites during the day.
“I know the whole town already; I know this place in and out,” Hank Carmickle said.
The food is largely donated from several charities and churches in Mayfield, so the menus change daily depending on what is donated. Roberta Carmickle and her family don’t ask for anything in return, but they accept tips.