FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS — After his barbecue catering business in Fayetteville, Arkansas, came to a halt at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, caterer Nate Walls began delivering free meals to anyone who needed them. Rather than close up shop entirely, Walls withdrew all the money from his bank account and continued cooking, turning his professional skills toward feeding people in his community at no cost.

Walls had operated a barbecue catering company in Fayetteville before the pandemic shut down gatherings and events that sustained his livelihood. With no paying customers and no timeline for when business might resume, he made the decision to keep his kitchen running using his own savings, preparing meals not for profit but for distribution to those who were going without.

The effort began on a modest scale. Walls initially delivered free meals by knocking on doors in a trailer park in his area. The visits placed him in direct contact with neighbors he might not otherwise have encountered, and the interactions were not always easy. In a conversation with his friend Angye Blackburn in Springdale, Arkansas, Walls recounted those first outings and the personal friction they sometimes produced.

"Initially, our thing was knocking on doors. I remember we went into the trailer park and it had rebel flags everywhere. I wanted to punch him." Walls said.

Despite the discomfort of those moments, Walls did not stop. He continued preparing and delivering meals, a practice that required him to set aside his own reactions in service of feeding people regardless of who they were or what they displayed outside their homes. Walls reflected on the emotional demands of that choice during his conversation with Blackburn.

"It's easy to care about people that care about you. The challenge is caring about people that don't care about you." he said.

Walls continues to deliver free meals to people in need, extending what began as a pandemic-era response into an ongoing commitment. The interview in which Walls spoke with Blackburn has been archived at the Library of Congress.