LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Isaiah Scott and his team had seven hours to plan, prepare and pack up a meal for 250 people. 

That’s a standard morning for the kitchen manager of Feed Louisville.

The 17-year-old began the morning by going over the menu with volunteer Maz Masri: buffalo cauliflower casserole with chicken, cottage pie and cold macaroni salad. 

Scott gathered the ingredients for the hearty vegetarian pasta salad: jars of olives and roasted red peppers from the pantry, feta, capers, olive oil and two dressings. 

Feed Louisville's kitchen manager, Isaiah Scott, prepares a cold macaroni salad, studded with olives, capers, roasted red peppers, walnuts and feta. (Spectrum News 1/Erin Kelly)

Later, he spread walnuts on a baking sheet, seasoned and roasted them to add to the salad. 

Scott is the kitchen manager of the nonprofit that began during the pandemic, providing 250-500 meals a day for people experiencing homelessness or food insecurity. 

About 40 restaurants contribute to the organization. 

“I needed to give back, and that’s exactly what I found without even like knowing it, and I think that’s how a lot of people feel when they come here,” he told Spectrum News 1.  

Scott got his start as a part-time assistant and is now a full-time paid staff member. 

Along with rotating volunteer chefs and crew, he plans the menu and gathers the ingredients.

“And then we start to cook, and cook and cook and cook,” he said with a smile. “Everything here is very intentional. There’s love in all of our food ... It’s probably one of the biggest things is that there’s love.”

Besides working in the kitchen 40 hours a week, Isaiah recently graduated from the Pathfinder School of Innovation a year early. 

He wants to go to culinary school, spend time in Paris and open a restaurant. 

“I have real big dreams. I want to change the world,” he said. “I want to change the way that people think about food ... Why are we wasting so much food? Why are people not eating when there’s so much food being wasted?” 

Rhona Kamar, the co-founder and executive director of Feed Louisville, has known Scott since he was 11. He’s taken her cooking classes and helped as a sous chef for her private catering business. 

“We are really proud of him,” she said. “He leads a team of grown adults every day and we listen to him. He sets really high standards for the kitchen and he expects us to all follow them and it’s just amazing to see a young person grow in their leadership so quickly.” 

When a car pulled up with a donation of food, Scott quickly got to work, weighing and sorting through the stacks of boxes that took over his workstation. 

“It will all be gone through and some of it will actually go out today,” he said. 

Scott would work to make sure none of it went to waste as he prepared to do it all over again for the next day’s meal.