Courtesy GoFundme.com
By the time I finally reach chef Rocky Durham, he’s driving along some remote stretch of road between Socorro and Albuquerque while heading back from El Paso, Texas. The cell service is horrible. Durham was in Texas with his wife, Emmy, to pick up emergency passports from the El Paso Passport Agency, with support from US Sen. Ben Ray Lujan’s office, mind you, but why is a chef in such a rush to get out of the country?
Durham, who has cooked for celebrated Santa Fe eateries like Blue Heron and Palace Prime, and Emmy, a former EMT, firefighter and an Army veteran, want to help Ukrainians fleeing Vladimir Putin’s war. Together, they’re headed to Moldova, likely this week, the closest country from which they can reasonably lend assistance. Once there, they’ll cook for refugees and those affected by the war, as well as hand out supplies such as tolietries, feminine hygiene products, socks, pet food, toys and various other sundry items.
“For months we’d been talking about wanting to help people, feed people, and we kept saying something like, ‘Let’s go to Senegal or something, to a refugee camp, and we’ll just cook for people who really want and need to be fed,’” Rocky, who resigned his chef position at Palace Prime for this project, tells SFR. “When the war broke out with Ukraine and Russia, we realized this is exactly our calling.”
Both Durhams are what Rocky calls, “Russian linguists,” with Emmy starting her studies while still in the military circa 1997. And while they understand that might be one of the last languages Ukrainians want to hear right now, they can use it to effectively communicate.
“There’s a huge need, and because it’s mainly women and children and because of human trafficking, for some of them to accept help from men is intimidating, whereas I’m a woman,” Emmy says. “I was in the Army, I was a firefighter and EMT in Los Alamos for six years, I worked for the Department of Health, so I can help in those aspects.”
The Durhams kicked off a fundraiser through Gofundme just last week, and, as of this writing, have raised nearly $6,500 toward a $40,000 goal. Rocky assures any potential donors that all of that money will go toward helping the people of Ukraine.
“We’re paying for our own travel, our own costs,” he says. “We’re going to go over there and represent New Mexico.”
“We didn’t want to ask for funds,” Emmy adds, “but we found out that people wanted to help, to do something, and we’re going to do the best that we can to put those efforts in place.”
