Chef. Cook. Mentor. Kitchen Magician. You can pretty much call Frank Kalange by any one of an endless number of monikers … it really doesn’t matter much, because he’s always glad to meet you.
In fact, when Morning Edition’s George Prentice sat down with Kalange, along with Interfaith Sanctuary CEO Jodi Peterson-Stigers, Kalange shared his newest passion: becoming Interfaith’s new Food Service Director.
And when we asked where that passion comes from, Kalange was quick to answer.
"My sweet Italian mother. I wanted to be in the kitchen, and I always wanted to be around her. So, at the age of seven, I was always in the kitchen.”
But his path to turning that passion into a profession had multiple forks in the road. He was in real estate for 20 years … but along the way, he also did some catering, was head chef at charity dinners, cooked for the Boise Children’s Home and Lion’s Club, and for the last several years, he's been the man in charge at Mercy Kitchen for St Mark’s Catholic Church. Indeed, faith was a big part of his serving others, particularly those who don't know where their next meal might come from.
“It was 2020. I went outside one summer day, looked up and asked, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’ And he said, ‘Feed my sheep.’ About a week later, my brother had just become a priest and in his announcement, guess which Bible quote he picked? ‘Feed my sheep.’ I thought, ‘All right. You don’t have to tell me twice. I was just called to do it.”
In the meantime, Interfaith Sanctuary was facing its own fork in the road, with its much-debated proposal to move from its downtown Boise location to a significantly larger footprint on State Street – the former location of the Boise Salvation Army. With that move for Interfaith comes a permanent location for men, women and children without a place to stay.
With the permanency of the new location comes a big requirement: serving meals every day, every week, every month and every year.
“I didn’t know that Frank would even consider the position of Food Service Director,” said Peterson-Stigers. “But when I reached out to him, he said, ‘I have been waiting for you to ask.’"
The two sat down with Prentice, just weeks before Interfaith’s plans to swing the doors open to their new location, to talk about how Kalange’s mission to feed the Lord’s sheep has become a reality... with a significantly greater flock.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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