Meet Bob Mattingly, better known as Bob the Knife Guy. He said his clients run the gamut of the socioeconomic scale to include hobbyists, retail, the unofficial family cook–especially those wanting their kitchen tools sharpened for the holidays–and servicemen. He sharpened two as a courtesy for an Air Force man yesterday who is headed to Afghanistan.
It started as a hobby 10 years ago that turned into a retirement business. Retirement also meant he no longer regularly volunteered at André House with his SRP co-workers, but he found another way to still contribute.
Bob has been sharpening knives for André House of Arizona for the last eight years. He sharpened their set about six weeks ago allowing volunteers to safely chop, slice and dice about 1,000 pounds of fruit, vegetables and protein each day, six days a week. That averages 600 meals a night, but this week it has been as many as 750 meals.
The house of hospitality expects to serve at least 350 homeless guests on Thanksgiving. Some guests spend Thanksgiving with churches and civic organizations that host special dinners which explains the shorter guest list. It will be a lighter menu, according to Holy Cross Father Tom Doyle, director of André House.
“We’ll provide a hearty turkey, noodle and vegetable soup with a side of fresh fruit for dinner. The highlight will be the fresh pie that we serve,” Fr. Doyle said. “Our friends have already donated 70 pies this week.”
A man from Cutting Board Resurfacing in Glendale supports André House a couple times a year too with new cutting boards and by resurfacing their old ones.
