By MARK ANTONATION | Westword

Jennifer Gueddiche, chief operating officer for the Welcome Center, says it wasn’t enough to count on food banks and pantry donations to get food for the organization’s clients, since many of them come from cultures where American staples are either unfamiliar or unsuitable for their religious and cultural requirements. Orthodox Christians and Muslims from Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea form a large part of the Welcome Center’s clientele, so ensuring that halal meats, vegetarian meals and traditional ingredients made it to those in need played a critical role in temporarily switching from an education-based mission to focusing on food distribution.