COVID-19 SoCal charity already feeding 1,000 hospital workers a day
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- One of the most demanding and dangerous jobs in the fight against COVID-19 is being fought by our critical care workers like Ronald Reagan UCLA ICU nurse Scott McPherson. With so many places closed, McPherson says it's been difficult to find a good meal in between the exhausting work on the front lines.
That's why just 10 days ago, six Brentwood parents started a charity to feed healthcare workers.
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"It's nice to just take a little break, have something to eat and talk with your colleagues and take a step back. It builds camaraderie. We're definitely leaning on each other during this time," said McPherson.
The charity, Help feed the Frontlines Fighting Covid-19 LA, is currently feeding 1,000 hospital workers a day at 11 Southern California hospitals including Cedars Sinai, MLK Jr. Community Hospital, Kaiser Permanente and UCLA Santa Monica and Reagan.
"Lift the spirits of these healthcare workers. To provide them with meals that are nutritious that can actually be delicious for them in a time when they really are on the front lines fighting for all of us," said Shannon Pruitt, one of the founders of Help Feed the Frontline.
"I'm going to do whatever we can do and this is what we can do right now," said Maire Byrne, a small business owner who owns two restaurants in Santa Monica.
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Byrne's Thyme Cafe and Market and Local Kitchen in Santa Monica is one of the restaurants cooking the meals. But the charity isn't asking restaurants to donate free food as they're hurting too. Instead, the money raised so far, including $250,000 donated by Laker Anthony Davis, pays the restaurants for two meals a day per healthcare worker, which costs $25 each.
"Any profit that we are getting from it is able to keep my chef, my sous chef and my management working," said Byrne.
