By Mike Aldax
Greg Goodman doesn’t like to take credit for the work he does at the Bay Area Rescue Mission (BARM) in Richmond.
“I enjoy it,” he states matter-of-factly. “I’m good with just being here and helping.”
A former longtime Chevron Richmond employee, Goodman has volunteered at BARM for about 30 years. His connection started while he was still at Chevron. “The company had [a volunteer effort called] Christmas in July, and I started coming here.” He naturally ended up in the place he knows best: the kitchen.
After retiring from Chevron, Goodman went to culinary school and was even able to earn academic credit while volunteering at BARM. He later completed a B.A. in hospitality from San Francisco State and taught at Contra Costa College, where he helped create a pathway for BARM clients to enroll in culinary classes and work toward degrees and careers.
Goodman says his service is more a calling than a hobby. Many years ago, he asked a question that has stayed with him. “I asked God, what was my purpose?” The reply came quickly: “Almost immediately after the question came the phrase ‘Feed hungry people.’ I didn’t know what they were hungry for, knowledge or food, so I do both.”
Goodman spent decades at Chevron Richmond, starting in operations. After an injury, he went back to school and returned as an instrument mechanic. “My last job, I was the instrument trainer,” he said.
His interest in cooking began long before that. As a kid, he often took over the kitchen at home. “My parents ate a lot of bad meals,” he said. “I remember these burnt peas one time… they were black.”
That early passion made his post-retirement culinary path feel natural.
Feeding hundreds daily
At BARM, Goodman has held multiple roles, from teacher to assistant kitchen manager. At one point, he cooked dinner daily for hundreds of people.
“Three-hundred now come for dinner every night,” he said.
To make that work, he follows a simple rule: “You just cook what’s going to take the longest first and start there… It’s always the protein.” Because ingredients change day to day, menus are improvised. “We knew what protein we had, and that’s it. The rest, well, we had to be creative.”
BARM relies on donations from local grocery stores. “[BARM has] a truck that goes around to various providers… Trader Joe’s, Safeway, Sprouts,” he said. Some days bring large quantities of a single ingredient. “Some days, it’s cabbage, cabbage, cabbage, cabbage. That’s all there is, cabbage. You’re making cabbage.”
He also values BARM’s continued support for graduates. “When you’re done with the program, they don’t kick them to the curb. There’s a transitional program.”
Many kitchen staff started as clients. “The head chef was a student, Joe was a student, Comfort was a student.”
Goodman helped connect BARM clients to Contra Costa College. “We had a program where we signed students up for the college to go to night classes.”
When asked why he has stayed with BARM all these years, his answer is simple: “This place really speaks to me.” He says he recognizes parts of his own past in the people he serves and knows he could have taken a harder path. Luck and circumstance kept him from becoming a BARM client, himself, he says.
Still showing up
Goodman doesn’t dwell on the impact he’s had. “I’m sure it’s helping some people change their lives, but I don’t know exactly who or where.”
And he doesn’t worry much about what comes next. “I don’t have any goals. I’m retired. I’m not improving on myself or anything. I’m grown. I’m done.”
Yet every week, he continues to show up to teach, cook and encourage—guided by the same mission that drives the Bay Area Rescue Mission itself: to feed hungry people in every sense of the phrase.