![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/Story-1-photo1-4-1024x683.jpg\")
With Grunt \u2014 his trusty service dog of eight years \u2014 by his side, Rogers has now turned his mission into a lifeline for many. Drawing from his own experiences and the warmth of memories of his beloved grandmother, who taught him how to cook, Rogers created his 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Though it started with home-cooked meals, using the principle of \u201cteaching a man to fish\u201d versus \u201cgiving a man a fish,\u201d he teaches veterans how to make the food in their pantries stretch further than they thought possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter we moved to a weekly program, we began to help in other ways. As we grew, we started working with other programs and organizations, cooking for first responders and veterans in the community. I teach veterans struggling with food insecurity to make broths from leftovers and how to turn meals into something new. I help them explore ways to reduce cost by knowing that they don\u2019t need a lot of ingredients to make a great meal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since those meager beginnings in New York, thousands have now found inspiration in his online cooking show, and now that Rogers lives in Shelbyville, he continues to work tirelessly. He is truly living out the Army\u2019s motto, \u201cBe All You Can Be,\u201d and through cookbook sales and numerous fundraisers, he is making it possible for fellow veterans to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo date, we have fed over 1,500 veterans and their family members,\u201d said Rogers. \u201cWe\u2019ve provided 300 grocery shopping cards to the Veterans Administration and service officers here in Tennessee to give to veterans, and donated over $10,000 to various organizations helping veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to running a nonprofit, Rogers said, \u201cI like to talk directly to people when I can. This lets them see my passion for what I am doing. Since we work out of my kitchen, I am blessed that 98-100% of donations go directly to help veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Armed with the belief that \u201cfood is the language that brings us all together,\u201d and the motivation of \u201cFeeding Veterans One Meal at a Time,\u201d Rogers said, \u201cWe are working to establish annual funds and partnerships that will allow us to help veterans not just in Tennessee, but in several states in the next couple of years. We also just created a free veterans guide for veterans in Tennessee. We also have a music night on July 19 at The Fly Arts Center to raise funds to buy grocery cards for veterans, and in September, we will have our second annual \u2018Crawl, Walk, Run.\u2019\u201d GN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information, follow Cooking With a Veteran on Facebook or visit www.cookingwithaveteran.org.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cCooking With a Veteran\u201d began with hunger \u2014 an ache that Dave Rogers knew too well. Before he enlisted in the U.S. Army and for a short time after his honorable discharge, Rogers faced homelessness. This permanent mark, left by Rogers\u2019 temporary situation, stirred within him a desire to ensure others wouldn\u2019t face their struggles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":23931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/Story-1-photo1-1-1-1024x683.jpg\")