Nourishing Our Community
“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him…
the people who give you their food give you their heart.”
~ Cesar Chavez
The abundance of yesterday’s #351GratitudeMoment spills into today, as we continue to recognize and celebrate the generosity, support, and community forged by the restaurant industry. Our local restaurants are the keeper of their community’s stories and memories. They’re a welcome mat for family celebrations and the backdrop to life’s milestones.
So when our communities can no longer gather at these cherished places, it’s heartbreaking for the restaurants, their teams, and the customers they serve. But, instead of receding into the background and despite overwhelming economic challenge, this amazing industry continues to lead.
Today’s “Good News” shares a few more of countless stories of how they have adapted their models to meet critical need, give hope, and do what they do best -- nourish our communities. We share them with our gratitude, admiration, and care and support
In Wilmington, EJ's Pizza, LaRosa's Restaurant, and Tremezzo Pizzeria are providing free meals for seniors, children, and those “who may need a meal”. As WBZ-TV reported, Tanya Graves, a customer at EJ’s, is leading the effort by recruiting volunteers through social media to deliver and underwrite meals. She said: “We’re taught to love our neighbors...and this is what our neighbors need right now!”
Chef Chris Coombs, co-owner of Deuxave, dBar, and two Boston Chops steakhouse, emphasizes care for his 230 staff members. Upon closure of his restaurants, he distributed $100,000 worth of perishable food to members of his team.
In Everett, Short Path Distillery is one of several distilleries, now bottling homemade hand sanitizer — repurposing alcohol typically reserved for rums, gins and whiskeys for the production of hand sanitizer. Short Path co-founder Zachary Robinson said. “There was just a feeling of helplessness for a while there, so it feels good to have a purpose.”
In New York City, Luca Di Pietro, the owner of Tarallucci e Vino, is providing hundreds of daily meals for hospital workers. Through his website Feed the Frontlines, Di Petro has raised close to $80,000 for his mission and recruited other restaurants to join his cause. His mission is two-fold -- keeping his staff employed while giving thanks to heroes on the frontline of healthcare.
In Philadelphia, Cole Berman and five friends had the same mission -- creating Fuel the Fight to raise funds to support local restaurants and hospital workers. Through their efforts, South Philly Barbacoa, Bad Brother and Mike’s BBQ now prepares meals for teams at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Jefferson, Bryn Mawr, Paoli and Christiana Hospitals. Ben Miller, owner of South Philly Barbacoa, said, “It’s helping us maintain some staff and some income as these times are so devastating. We’re going to be back in the kitchen putting the love in the foods to give people some more fuel.”
In Ohio, vendors are leading, too. Premiere ProduceOne, which normally distributes to restaurants, universities, and hospitals, opened three warehouses to restaurant and hospitality workers so they could shop from thousands of pounds of fresh ingredients. "We just wanted to give back to our community. We're not charging for anything," said co-owner Tony Anselmo."We have a lot of lettuces, broccoli florets, red peppers, yellow peppers, bok choy, romaine.” The leftover food also made a difference, as donations to shelters and food banks across the state.
Massachusetts restaurants will be closed until at least April 6th, except for those who can offer delivery and takeout services. Eater Boston has become a hub of information, resources, and ideas for supporting industry workers and restaurants. These include:
If you have the means:
Order takeout from participating restaurants.
Buy gift cards for future use.
Call your local hospital, nursing home, fire or police station, and see if you can order takeout for staff.
Purchase merchandise from your favorite spot and wear it with pride!
Acts of kindness we can all do:
Send a letter of gratitude and support to a favorite restaurant or individual staff member.
Provide kindness and care for and support for affected family and friends who work in the industry.