When Lt. Jordan Foley, a member of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) and Butler Township native, learned that his best friend from his Naval Academy days was attempting to start a food delivery company specializing in delivery to military bases, he was excited for him.

“He was an entrepreneurial guy anyway,” Foley said.

When his friend found himself in debt he was unable to pay off and his venture failed to get off the ground, the young man fell into a deep depression.

“He died by suicide in February 2019,” Foley said. “I personally felt guilty for not checking in on him. I said if he couldn’t start a business successfully, what are the chances anyone in the military can?”

Foley began researching existing programs meant to help veterans, but he found that none provided in-depth assistance for vets trying to start a business.

“At the end of the day, BC3’s entrepreneurial classes do 10 times as much as these programs,” he said. “They are a mile wide and an inch deep.”

When he began to consider starting up some type of veteran-assistance program in honor of his friend, Foley began thinking back to his grandmother, Josephine Sommariva, who worked at the former Lyndora Hotel and taught him about cooking. He though of his sailor friends during submarine detail who were culinary specialists who made everything from scratch.

And naturally, he thought of the food delivery business his late friend tried to start up.

“I thought ‘If I’m going to do anything, I’m going to focus on the culinary industry,’” Foley said. “A food truck just seemed like a perfect fit.”

He constructed a menu and the food truck’s potential market, and he hired a cook.

“The truck and the concept were born together, and then in January 2020, I filed the paperwork and we started Let’s Chow,” Foley said.

He started by renting church kitchens all over Maryland to sell the foods on his menu, but then the coronavirus pandemic hit and state officials informed him he could no longer sell food.

“We asked if we can give it away,” Foley said. “They said ‘as long as you follow the health and safety guidelines.’”

Let’s Chow gave away thousands of meals during the pandemic by appealing to local companies, asking for a few hundred dollars to support the free-meal program.

Then Foley won a business-pitch competition through Georgetown University, Rocket Pitch and Bark Tank competitions, and a national nonprofit competition, Streetshares,” which is a veteran competition.

“After winning these competitions, we were able to supercharge our efforts,” Foley said. “We bought our first truck in 2021.”

The truck was for sale by the owner of a former Philly cheesesteak business who had converted a small school bus into a rolling kitchen.

“It wasn’t necessarily a top-of-the-line truck,” Foley said.

He said the meal donation program during the pandemic wasn’t part of his original mission to train potential chefs in the food truck.

“By the end of it, a lot of veterans were saying ‘Hey, the reason I want to keep doing this is to serve the community,” Foley said. “It really felt good when we helped people with food. It’s become a major part of our program.”

He took the truck to a veteran homeless shelter in inner city Baltimore, where he cooked mountains of food and held games and contests for the veterans.

“These fellows, who were homeless veterans, were able to just come out and enjoy their time,” Foley said.

He began receiving corporate donations, and today, Let’s Chow boasts five food trucks and will purchase one more in the near future.

If a veteran reaches out to say he or she wants to learn the culinary business, a Let’s Chow food truck will be sent to the veteran’s location.

“We work remotely and want to help (veterans) develop their business in their area,” Foley said.

Let’s Chow covers product marketing, selecting a menu, choosing the appropriate equipment, research on how well the menu items sell in that area, and ensuring all food regulations will be met.

In San Diego, a veteran developed his product before moving to a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

“We feel the truck reduces the fail rate because they learn about the restaurant industry before jumping in with both feet,” Foley said.

The Let’s Chow trucks are leased to veterans, usually for two or three years, while they learn the ropes of the food industry and make some money selling their product.

Let’s Chow even pays to provide graphics to display the name of the veteran’s business on the leased truck.

“This is the veteran’s business,” Foley said.

He said there is always the possibility that the veteran will lease to own if the food truck business is going well and the goal is not a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

“You’re meant to move on from this program,” Foley said.

After four years as an independent operation that has donated more than 50,000 meals, provided 15,000 hours of hands-on training for veterans and military spouses, and given advice and support to 50 veteran-owned businesses, Foley has now partnered with celebrity chef Robert Irvine, himself a veteran of the British Royal Navy.

Let’s Chow, which operates five food trucks in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, California and Pennsylvania, is now a program of the Robert Irvine Foundation.

“He has a brilliant culinary mind, so we decided to join forces with him,” Foley said.

Derek Suhre, an Army National Guard veteran, operates Calavera Coffee in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., with his wife, Jesy. Suhre started his business with the help of Foley and Let’s Chow.

“I am fortunate enough to have been introduced to Jordan going on three years ago now, and I honestly can’t say enough about him,” Suhre said. “Jordan’s drive and work with Let’s Chow is a rare thing. He is all in and truly wants to help veterans get their feet under them and make things happen.”

Suhre is beyond grateful to be a part of the Let’s Chow program.

“It has made a big difference in my business, opening doors and making connections that would have otherwise been much more difficult to find and make,” he said.

Foley — who grew up in the Meridian neighborhood and graduated in 2007 from Shadyside Academy, was selected for and graduated first in his class for the Military Order of Merit after graduating from the Naval Academy, served as a brigade commander, attended graduate school at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was selected as a submarine officer, and completed six years in the Navy’s Law Education Program to achieve his current position as a JAG — has certainly achieved top status during his 13 years in the Navy.

But he is just as proud of his accomplishments with Let’s Chow.

“I enjoy seeing someone achieve,” Foley said. “In the back of my mind, I’m thinking of my buddy. He had all the tools.”