Business metaphors pepper his language, whether he is speaking to Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs or discussing his mission with kitchen volunteers and potential donors. He believes the kitchen has a fiduciary responsibility to treat donors as investors, and sends them annual reports. The Clinton administration, as well as state governments, have worked to persuade both big and small businesses to cooperate in helping welfare recipients become long-term workers. And thanks to a booming economy, many employers have decided to participate because they see welfare recipients as a new labor pool at a time of very low unemployment. This system is so pity-based.
Pity creates nothing of substance.
His first exposure to the fight against hunger came in the mid-1980s, when he joined a church group handing sandwiches to homeless people on steam grates. As someone with a background in the nightclub business, he had a good gauge on how much food is tossed away daily. With a flair for marketing and a commitment to treating donors as investors, Mr. Egger went to work. At the time, the kitchen was the only one of its kind. Mr. Egger, who has served on the board of Food Chain since its beginning, says it has 23 active kitchens and 25 more have been funded.