Feeding Essential Workers, and Putting Restaurants Back to Work - The New York Times

As the coronavirus outbreak took hold in America last month, volunteers in San Francisco and New York sprang to action to feed overwhelmed health care workers and help struggling local restaurant workers.

Within weeks, similar efforts sprouted elsewhere, and those independent groups decided to come together under the organization Frontline Foods. Its roughly 400 volunteers have since delivered more than 50,000 meals to hospitals in 40 cities.

“It’s been an incredible experience,” said Alexis Perlmutter, one of the Frontline Foods volunteers leading the efforts in Chicago. “This would not be possible without an army of volunteers who are really rolling up their sleeves to solve problems together.”

Frontline Foods is working with World Central Kitchen, a global nonprofit organization that is delivering fresh meals to essential workers and others in need.

The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund has begun a special Covid-19 relief campaign. All proceeds will go to nonprofits that provide assistance to those facing economic hardship. Make a tax-deductible donation via GoFundMe.

Donate

Bringing meals to hospitals in a safe and organized fashion can be extremely difficult, said Nate Mook, the chief executive of World Central Kitchen. But World Central Kitchen has the expertise to help. Having served communities ravaged by disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes, it has stepped in to coordinate these separate fund-raising initiatives and offer logistical support amid the pandemic.

To help organizations like World Central Kitchen as they assist some of those most impacted by the coronavirus, The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund has started a Covid-19 Relief Campaign. This monthlong campaign will benefit World Central Kitchen and three other agencies offering support to those affected by the outbreak.

Latest Updates: Coronavirus Outbreak in the U.S.

• As Trump pushes to reopen the U.S., experts bemoan a lack of testing.
• Some states have few cases, says a White House eager to reopen society.
• Cuomo will require New Yorkers to wear facial coverings in public.

See more updates

Updated 1h ago

More live coverage: Global Markets New York

Over the past month, World Central Kitchen has served more than one million meals, to essential workers and the hungry, in at least 95 cities across the country. It has also been working in seven cities in Spain, which has one of the world’s highest coronavirus mortality rates.

Many of those on the receiving end are front-line workers. In one week, the Chicago-based chapter of Frontline Foods has teamed up with 10 restaurants and delivered more than 1,000 meals to six hospitals.

“We want to thank our front-line workers for getting up and going to work each morning, and we want to bring the economy back for our local restaurants,” Ms. Perlmutter said. “It’s all about community.”

In New York, World Central Kitchen recently set up a distribution site at Hudson Yards to serve the staff at the makeshift hospital in the Jacob K. Javits Center. The organization is also planning to bring daily meals to roughly 30,000 professionals working in the city’s public hospitals and health clinics, with support from Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York.

In Washington, dozens of World Central Kitchen staffers have been stationed in Nationals Park, cooking about 8,000 meals a day for homeless people, older residents and essential workers, including firefighters and police officers.

In the process, World Central Kitchen is also helping restaurants whose business has slowed.

“You have all these folks that want to cook, and they’re out of work,” Mr. Mook said. “They just need somebody to cook for.”

To help fulfill that need, the nonprofit is providing administrative and financial backing to Frontline Foods and other grass-roots groups, like Off Their Plate, which has operations from Boston to Seattle.

“We’re good at moving quickly,” said Tim Kilcoyne, the director of chef operations at World Central Kitchen. Yet given how widespread the current health crisis is, he said, “the only way we would be able to help as many people as possible is with partners.”

Other collaborations are underway in Oakland, Calif. World Central Kitchen has delivered nearly 7,000 meals from a dozen local restaurants to medics at drive-through testing sites, homeless residents in transitional housing, seniors and at-risk youth.

Kingston 11, a Jamaican restaurant that has been contributing to those relief efforts, has hired back more than half of its back-of-house staff, said Sam Chapple-Sokol, who works for World Central Kitchen in Oakland.

“They’re open three days a week right now, because of the limited demand and the limited ability,” he said. “But it sounds like they’re crushing it those three days. They’re super busy.”

World Central Kitchen has also been creating opportunities for food delivery workers. It has connected with Uber Eats and other delivery companies to bring meals from local restaurants to front-line workers and others in need in Los Angeles, Newark and New York, as well as Washington and Oakland.

The motivation behind the organization’s work comes from the can-do attitude of its founder, the celebrity chef and activist José Andrés, said Mr. Chapple-Sokol.

“If somebody is hungry,” he said, “you just get in the kitchen and start cooking.”

Donations to The Neediest Cases Fund’s special Covid-19 campaign may be made online at GoFundMe, or with a check. Donors who wish to direct their gifts to those affected by the coronavirus should designate “Covid-19 Relief” on any check, which can be sent to The Neediest Cases Fund, P.O. Box 5193, New York, N.Y. 10087.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"back" - Google News
April 16, 2020 at 04:33PM
https://ift.tt/2Kby6ys

Feeding Essential Workers, and Putting Restaurants Back to Work - The New York Times
"back" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2QNOfxc
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update

Bagikan Berita Ini