Maya McFadden photo
Nurse Melina Moore (in hairnet) accepts delivery Sunday from Koffee?
A city chapter of Frontline Foods, a national initiative to feed healthcare workers and support food businesses during Covid-19, hustled to put together meals for 350 Yale New Haven Hospital health care workers on Easter Sunday.
“We wanted to show them we appreciate their work especially on a day like Easter,” said one of the organizers, Laurie Rosenfield Falk.
The New Haven chapter is made up of a small group of volunteers and seven restaurants. The participating restaurants include Roia, Olmo, Koffee Katering, Crêpes Choupette, Atticus Bookstore Cafe, Union League Cafe, and Miya’s Sushi.
The group provided meals for workers from 17 hospital units who all work with Covid-19-related matters and patients.
The Frontline Foods New Haven initiative is made up of two combined efforts, each focused on supporting local restaurants and their employees while feeding the frontlines. Thrive New Haven, formed by New Haven restaurateurs Avi Szapiro of Roia, Jason Sobocinski of Olmo, and Duncan Goodall of Koffee Katering, joined forces with New Haven Strong, a citizen initiative formed by Westville resident Dennis Serfilippi that has raised $4,685 so far with a GoFundMe campaign.
Organizers stand six feet apart suited with mask and gloves.
“Everyone’s goal is to support New Haven,” said Szapiro of Roia Restaurant and Cafe.
Frontline Foods is a national volunteer-run campaign in partnership with José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen. Its mission is to support city restaurants and their staff and health workers.
To launch the initiative by Easter, local organizers used New Haven Strong’s nearly $4,500 donation fund to provide the 350 meals to Yale New Haven Hospital. The organizers plan to continue to fundraise in the future through the New Haven chapter of Frontline Foods.
Koffee? Katering staff serve the Easter Sunday meals.
Each participating restaurant cooked a batch of specialties, where were picked outside of the hospital’s York Street entrance up by two to three staffers from each of the 17 hospital units.
Patient care associates Dyamond Dove and Antonio Hardy and registered nurses Melina Oliver and Emily Moore were among the staffers who came down to retrieve the meals for their colleagues.
Dyamond Dove.
“You guys won’t believe how many of us need this,” Dove (pictured above) said as she wheeled the loaded cart of food inside.
Rosenfield Falk said 100 percent of the fundraised donations go to the restaurants to provide food and pay their working staff.
“As a community, it’s our responsibility to make the effort to help these restaurants stay in business,” Rosenfield Falk said.
Rosenfield Falk said she was initially motivated to join the initiative from stories she heard of hospital staff having to stay in hotels and dorms because of their constant exposure to the virus and fear of spreading it to family if they returned home after a day of work.
During the planning process, the initiative partnered with the hospital. The organizers had to abide by specific regulations for the food packaging and cooking.
Ernie’s Pizzeria also joined the team on Sunday to provide pies to the New Haven fire and police departments.
Ernie’s Pizzeria.
The coalition is working to make daily meal deliveries to the hospital workers in the future.