Caravan Kebab in Edmonds’ Firdale Village will be distributing 250 meals on Christmas Day to people in need around South Snohomish County. Restaurant owner Shahzad Raja will be doing the food prep, cooking and packaging,with help from a few volunteers.

“My decision is to work with the needy,” he said. Because Raja’s birthday is on Dec. 25, he said that he feels a stronger drive to help.

He began collaborating on the event with Mountlake Terrace Councilmember Steve Woodard last Monday, after speaking to a new customer, Amira Atan.

“When he (Raja) told me this, I was like, ‘Are you serious, you want to cook and clean and prepare all this food on your birthday?’” said Atan, who volunteers at a cold weather shelter in Lynnwood that is operated with Volunteers of America. “And he said ‘yeah! And now I’m gonna find how I’m going to distribute the food.’” 

Years ago, Raja started distributing meals to those who are homeless in different areas, including Seattle’s Pike Place Market. “I think right now is the time to change my act,” he said. “One time I did it with Housing Hope in Everett. This time I decided to go with Volunteers of America, and they are helping me a lot because they are going to deliver the food so I don’t have to go to different areas by myself.”

Woodard, who is also vice president of community engagement for Volunteers of America, met Raja and Atan at Caravan Kebab Saturday to discuss logistics and other issues about the food distribution. 

“We can’t let this fail. This is too good of an offer,” Woodard said. “Several organizations reached out within 24 hours, and we had over 400 requests for meals. We had drivers step up to drive around to folks who cannot come here.”

These organizations include Fallen Brothers Food Resource and Snohomish County Mutual Aid (SCMA), which will distribute the 250 meals along with other organizations and individual volunteers. Second Chance Foundation will partner with SCMA to share the distribution. The boxed meals will include curry chicken, vegetable biryani, salad and rice. 

Woodard said that Raja’s kitchen staff will not be involved because they will have Christmas Day off. “I imagine they want to help, but he keeps them at bay,” Woodard said. “It’s amazing to think that he’s going to do all of that.”

However, Atan, Woodard and two other volunteers will be helping Raja with the packaging. Atan said that many people who will be receiving the food don’t know where they will be located for their next meal. Sometimes they will mention to Atan or another volunteer where they will be so that someone will give them food.

“Some of them needed a place to shower or wash their clothes,” Atan said. “There are places but you have to make an appointment, you have to be there on time. You can’t do both, wash your clothes or shower. You have to do one or the other. Not everybody has data service. Everything is expected to be looked up on the website, but not everyone has that ability. That’s really hard.”

Woodard said that many organizations who reached out to him would like to do future meal distributions. 

“But the vision (for the Christmas Day meal distribution) is Shadzad’s,” he said. “We are here to support him the best we can and not grow something bigger than what he intends.”.

In addition to serving meals at shelters, Raja said that he will be handing out meals personally to Edmonds police officers who are working on Christmas Day.

Caravan Kebab has been serving Edmonds and nearby neighborhoods for more than 13 years, offering various cuisines from India, Ukraine, Turkey and Greece. The cuisine is influenced by Raja’s travels around Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean region, central Asia and his own roots in Pakistan.

“I want to say thank you to this great neighborhood and all the people since I came to the United States and started my restaurant,” Raja said.

— Story and photos by Nick Ng