Jean Webster

Jean Webster (January 7, 1935 – January 10, 2011) was an American cook who operated Sister Jean's Kitchen, a soup kitchen in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Webster began serving free meals to the poor of the city out of her own home in 1986, cooked in her personal kitchen. Eventually her informal charity expanded into a substantial operation that moved to Victory First Presbyterian Deliverance Church. Food was available to any and all who came. At its height, Sister Jean's Kitchen served over 400 people per day with hot meals. Life and career Jean Webster was born in New York City in 1935. She moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey, at age 4 or 5 after her father switched jobs. She attended culinary school after graduating from the school system. Even before completion of school, she was working on the side to help her family's finances. From a young age, she worked as a cook at nursing homes to help support her five sisters and three brothers. She had a job at the kitchen of the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel as a dish-washer at the age of 18; she learned to cook from a chef there. Webster worked in casinos later in her life, which became Atlantic City's main source of employment after they were legalized in the 1970s and expanded in the 1980s. She was one of the first black female sous-chefs employed at Atlantic City casinos. Her employers included the Playboy Hotel and Casino, at Caesars Atlantic City, at Atlantis Hotel and Casino, and the Trump Taj Mahal. Webster retired from the Taj Mahal in 1991 due to health issues related to a heart condition that resulted in angina and other complications. Sister Jean's Kitchen