A recipe for caring

Success for Jamie Westendorff is all about helping others.

The Post and Courier Jefferson Award for Public Service winner is among 60 honorees selected from around the country to attend the organization's national ceremony in Washington, D.C., June 15-16.

"I'm excited about it. I haven't been on a vacation in 15 to 20 years," Westendorff said.

Truth be told, he'd just as soon stay home. Get them to send his award in the mail. He would rather be cooking for kids with cancer at Camp Happy Days and Special Times, which he has been doing for more than a decade.

"I'm probably the easiest-going guy in the whole world," he said.

Westendorff, owner of Charleston Outdoor Catering in West Ashley, has been giving to those in need for two decades. His business turns a small profit, he drives a broken-down truck and wears raggedy jeans. He jokes about being overdrawn at the bank. "All I do is donate, donate, donate. I find it's easier to bite the bullet thanturn people down," he said.

He's known as the guy who cooks for the Lowcountry. Sometimes the food that Westendorff cooks is donated or discounted; he pays for it out of his pocket in many cases. He serves his popular Frogmore stew and tasty coleslaw at just as many charitable events as he does for profit.

His munificence sometimes strains his bank account, but that doesn't slow down his charity work. He has fed the multitudes at the American Lung Association's Camp Puff 'n Stuff to the tune of thousands of dollars out of his pocket.

Cooking for merely a couple of hundred people at weddings and social events pays the bills, but when he voluntarily feeds sometimes thousands at a time, be it kids with cancer or hurricane victims — that's what excites him. After Hurricane Hugo tore through the state in 1989, Westendorff set up his grills in Marion Square and fed about 20,000 to 30,000 people.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Westendorff fed multitudes in a nearby recovering town in Alabama. Soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, he fed crowds of people who showed up wanting to give blood. He had gone to donate blood but figured all the other people could use a pick-me-up after standing in the long lines.

The Jefferson Awards began in 1972 to create a Nobel Prize for public service. Today, their primary purpose is to serve as a "Call to Action for Volunteers" in local communities.

The 60 local honorees chosen to attend National Ceremonies received Jefferson Award Bronze Medals. Those honorees will be whittled down to five gold-medal winners. They have included Barbara Bush, Colin Powell, Peyton Manning, Lance Armstrong and Sandra Day O'Connor.