Deadly strike in Gaza hits home in New Mexico
World Central Kitchen staffer killed in Gaza worked in state during pandemic
The deaths of seven World Central Kitchen staffers in a bombing attack in the Gaza Strip hit home in a personal way for New Mexicans who worked with the aid organization in crisis responses here.
Among those killed in the attack was Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom, who came to New Mexico in July 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Some people roll joyfully through life and Zomi was one,” said Robert Egger, a Cerrillos resident and a former board member of World Central Kitchen.
“I knew and respected and really appreciated Zomi’s flair and lust for life,” Egger said in a phone interview Wednesday.
World Central Kitchen staff members swooped in to New Mexico during both the pandemic and in 2022 to feed people displaced by the Calf Canyon/ Hermits Peak Fire.
Frankcom, 43, was one of seven World Central Kitchen workers killed Monday when an Israeli airstrike destroyed a convoy providing humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Egger, a longtime friend of World Central Kitchen founder Chef José Andrés, described Frankcom as one of the aid organization’s professional staffers who respond to the toughest emergencies around the world.
“These are people who’ve done dozens of these activations and really understand how to work in these really very, very rough conditions,” he said. “These were really frontline people who were very professional about what they do.”
A native of Australia, Frankcom worked in Pakistan and Bangladesh during the floods in 2022 and on a motorbike convoy delivering aid into Haiti in 2021, according to media reports.
Others killed in the attack include a dual U.S.-Canada national, a Palestinian, three Britons and a Pole.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged the strike was made by the Israeli army but called it “unintentional.”
Frankcom worked with the relief effort near Window Rock, Arizona, in summer 2020 when Native American communities were particularly hard hit by the pandemic, Egger said.
World Central Kitchen worked with local volunteers, chefs and organizations such as Santa Fe Community College to provide about 53,000 meals during the pandemic and 60,000 meals during the devastating fires in 2022.
Egger said he spoke with Andres on Wednesday morning but declined to discuss details of the conversation. Asked what the deadly strike means for World Central Kitchen’s relief effort in Gaza, Egger said, “That’s anybody’s guess. I’m not prepared to speak to that.”
“Obviously, the organization has to reexamine their approach, but they aren’t reexamining their commitment,” he said.
Jerry Jeff Dakan, a chef and faculty member at Santa Fe Community College, said Wednesday he was saddened by reports of the deaths of World Central Kitchen staffers.
Dakan said he met Frankcom during her visit to the state in 2020.
Dakan recalled that World Central Kitchen responded promptly when the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire overwhelmed local aid efforts.
SFCC’s culinary arts received limited funding to respond to the fire. But he and his culinary arts students were astonished by the needs they observed at a Red Cross camp in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
“Chef Andres and Robert Egger were generous enough to fund us with our food efforts here,” Dakan recalled. World Central Kitchen quickly provided $100,000 for the relief effort.
Egger and SFCC built a team of 35 volunteers.
World Central Kitchen “sent an army,” Dakan said. “They sent a food truck. They sent a lot of their workers and were able to open it up and feed more people.”
Andres himself also quietly visited New Mexico to assist the operation.
“In nine weeks, we were able to feed about 50,000 residents around here with the help of World Central Kitchen,” Dakan said.