Good morning, Hampton Roads!
“Good Morning America” is coming to Portsmouth.
The famed morning news program is sending ABC News’ chief meteorologist and chief climate correspondent to spotlight Mercy Chefs, the Portsmouth-based nonprofit humanitarian relief organization, for a live Friday broadcast for its 7-9 a.m. show.
The visit is part of the show’s yearlong series, “50 States in 50 Weeks: America the Beautiful,” for which a correspondent or anchor travels to a new state every week to report on regional culture or local changemakers.
Ginger Zee, chief meteorologist and chief climate correspondent for ABC News. (Scott Heins/Courtesy of ABC News)
This week it’s Ginger Zee, who said she is excited for the chance to be back in Virginia. She has an aunt, uncle and cousins in Hampton.
“So it’s really nice that we are going to be able to drop in and see a little bit of their home area because I don’t get to go do that very often,” she said.
Most work trips don’t afford the storm-chasing meteorologist time to catch up with family.
“I usually show up when something really horrible has happened,” Zee said, “and so, I love being able to drop into a community and highlight Virginia, based on something so specific like Mercy Chefs.”
Christina Ta, managing chef at Mercy Chefs’ Portsmouth community kitchen, with a freshly cooked meal to be distributed into the community. (Photo courtesy of Mercy Chefs)
The mission of the organization is right up the weather guru’s alley. The nonprofit serves hot, high-quality meals prepared by chefs after emergencies and natural disasters in the U.S. and internationally. Since its founding in 2006, it has served more than 31 million meals, spokesperson Amy Avery said.
Its community kitchen in Portsmouth is a training spot for volunteers who make an average of 2,400 meals a week that are distributed locally. Zee will meet volunteers and tour and report on the kitchen.
The live broadcast is not open to the public. However, Mercy Chefs is looking for more volunteers, and as of Wednesday afternoon, would-be volunteers could still sign up for a Friday shift by going to mercychefs.com/get-involved.
Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8139, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com
https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/09/04/good-morning-america-portsmouth/
