Oxtails, cajun turkey neck, smoked neckbones, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, chitterlings, wings, burgers, seafood and shrimp fill steaming pans on any given buffet at The Lady’s Place, where long-time soul food caterer Sforenia “Lady” Robinson has cooked up a take-out business, and now a dine-in restaurant, in McGehee, Ark.

Robinson is humble about her success. “I’m just a little country girl who moved to the city and moved back home to give back to the community, a place where you could go and sit down with your family and friends,” she said.

But she gives back through more than her restaurant. Through her nonprofit Very Special Touch, Robinson also feeds hundreds of hungry kids twice a day, year round, at seven centers in Dumas and Chicot counties. From the restaurant’s kitchen, she also fills large-order contracts to feed disaster recovery victims and others.

Robinson feeds kids through a program sponsored by Operation Kids and through the state of Arkansas. It is open to any child age 2-18. During the school year, 400-500 area kids receive a snack and supper prepared by Robinson and her team of 11 employees. Robinson delivers the meals to seven Boys and Girls Clubs in the area, where many kids attend extracurricular programs.

During the summer, more kids eat Robinson’s homestyle cooking. She feeds about 975 kids a free breakfast and a free lunch daily. “We want to reach as many children as possible,” Robinson said. “We don’t want them to go hungry.”

Lots of kids here in the Arkansas Delta need these hearty, nutritious meals. The 2023 American Community Survey estimated that 53 percent of kids under 18 live in poverty in McGehee, more than three times the national average. In Dumas, an estimated 38 percent of kids live in poverty, and in Dermott, 42 percent. Feeding America estimates that almost one in four community members are food insecure in Desha and Chicot counties.

“Basically, our motto is, ‘No kid left behind unfed,’” Robinson said. “We’re cooking real food, stuff like barbecue chicken, potato salad, homemade spaghetti, green beans.”

Robinson learned how to cook from her mother. “My mama used to say, ‘Cooking is in your hands,’” Robinson said. “I didn’t understand that then, but I promise you, I do now. I told her, ‘Teach me anything but to cook,’ but now I’m the only one out of the seven that has a restaurant.”

Robinson catered for 20 years before she had the ingredients to open her take-out business, in October of 2020. At The Lady’s Place, she cooked and served up meals with the help of her husband and a few Sunday school students. Demand grew, and people in McGehee lined up for her authentic, mouth-watering soul food.

Within a year and a half, The Lady’s Place was outgrowing its space. “People wanted somewhere to sit down, so I had picnic tables,” Robinson said. “But what if it was really hot? Or it was raining? I needed a sit-down.”

Robinson knew she needed funding to expand her business. A trip to her local bank brought her to Communities Unlimited, a nonprofit that helped her obtain a loan for expansion. Through CU, she received a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) loan funded by Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund to fund the dine-in, buffet and commercial kitchen equipment. 

“I’ve just been blessed and honored to have all commercial equipment in my business,” Robinsons said. “That’s a blessing, and it’s paid for. I own it. I own my building. I own all that in five years.”

Through a USDA Rural Business Development Grant, CU staff also mentored her in managing costs and business planning as The Lady’s Place grew. In August of 2023, Robinson quit her full-time job. “I always knew I would quit working for someone one day,” she said.

Almost immediately, she got her first large-scale contract. She now holds cooking contracts with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and others. With her meal count straining at the capacity of her facilities, Robinson is on the lookout for grant funding that could fund further kitchen expansion.

“If you would have told me, I would be feeding children and doing this, I would have said, ‘Baby, I don’t know who you see, but that’s not me,’” Robinson said. “I am so serious. I just wanted to cook and enjoy what I did and be done with it. But God had a bigger, and a better, plan for me.”