Chef Terri was the Conscience of the Food Shuttle. She was always the voice of reason that everyone, from top to bottom, valued in her thoughts, opinions and insight.
-Tradell Adkins, Senior Director of Compliance
Chef Terri Hutter was small in stature, but you will never meet a mightier woman. For eighteen years, as the Food Shuttle’s executive chef, she brought her strength, passions, and generosity of spirit to bear in service to the community. During that time, hundreds of Culinary Job Training students benefited, not only from her skill in the kitchen, but from her way of being in the world.
Chef Terri Hutter
To honor Terri Hutter’s legacy and recognize those among the Food Shuttle staff who continue to embody her drive and spirit, the Chef Terri Award was created. The inaugural award was presented at the September 2021 All Staff Meeting to Community Engagement Manager Elizabeth Rodgers.
Elizabeth, who has worked with the Food Shuttle for the last 15 years, was lauded for the many ways in which she “owns the mission” of the Food Shuttle, demonstrates that “compassion means action,” and is a consistent “builder of people”—all criteria for the Chef Terri Award.
Included among her many admirable traits outlined in the nominating form, was Elizabeth’s fierce determination to serve those in need:
“I cannot begin to tell the committee about the many times I’ve ended my day at 5 p.m. to stop by the nominee’s office and see him/her on the phone with a partner or find the nominee scavenging through the warehouse seeking out non-food products for families who are in need of items that their SNAP benefits could not provide them.
I have witnessed the nominee at Mobile Markets showing partners and volunteers how to serve families with love, dignity, and respect. Never one to be shy about getting into the hunger fight, the nominee sometimes must be gently pulled back to ensure they save their strength and energy for the long war on hunger.”
When presented with the award at the All Staff Meeting on September 9, Elizabeth was taken totally by surprise. Tradell Adkins, Senior Director of Compliance, who presented the award commented that, even when her own job was fully described in the presentation, Elizabeth would have never presumed to have been the winner. She walked up to receive the award to a standing ovation from the very appreciative Food Shuttle staff.
Senior Driver Dennis Wooten and Senior Director of Food Distribution and Recovery Joe Johnson were also acknowledged as nominees for the Chef Terri Award at the September 9 All Staff Meeting.
Former Food Shuttle staff member Sally Bache, Elizabeth Rodgers, and long-time Food Shuttle volunteer Mr. Warren Shaw.