How to help Melbourne’s struggling hospitality, exhausted hospital workers
A new initiative aims to help both Melbourne’s struggling hospitality industry and exhausted hospital workers in a food win-win for all. Here’s how you can help.
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It’s billed as a win-win for hospital and hospitality workers alike.
Operation Thank You: Frontline Meals is a new initiative to help our health care workers by having local hospitality businesses deliver cooked meals to them.
It’s a way to get money to restaurants that remain closed during the corona crisis and food to exhausted frontline health care workers.
Founder Natasha Oommen said the initiative was a way for the community to show gratitude to those at the frontline dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic while supporting Melbourne’s hospitality industry, which provides those meals paid for by community donations.
“It seemed like a match made in heaven — keep people in jobs and produce food, and make sure the frontline don’t go home hungry if it can be avoided,” she said.
Frontline Meals has established a pilot program with the Northern Hospital in Epping to provide meals to the respiratory and emergency departments currently dealing with COVID-19 patients.
Restaurants involved in the pilot include North Fitzroy’s Moroccan Soup Kitchen, Atlantic Group, Edge Hospitality, Dolce Gusto in Niddrie and Heart Attack & Vine in Carlton, which have each created delicious, nourishing meals to be delivered to the frontline.
Venues receive between $5 and $15 per meal from donations collected via frontlinemealsmelb.org.
Regular deliveries are set to begin early May and there are plans to expand to the greater Melbourne area and to other frontline services.
Ms Oommen said the goal was to deliver 24,000 meals over the next two months.
“We’ll keep going as long as people are generous enough to support us and allow us to help our hospitality and front line workers,” she said.
Northern Hospital emergency department nurse unit manager Janice Fernandes said the first delivery of meals was welcomed by exhausted staff.
“Our shift workers sometimes don’t have time to cook or sit with families and have a meal together, so having the delicious meals cooked and delivered brought comfort to the team and lifted their spirits,” she said.
Restaurants around Melbourne are also doing their part to support their local healthcare workers.
The Plough Hotel in Footscray has started a weekly changing at-home menu and donates a meal to Western Health healthcare workers for every $30 spent.
Manager Ben Foster said the initiative was an important way to help keep their international staff employed as well as contributing to the local community, with more than 150 meals so far delivered to Sunshine and Footscray hospitals.
Other restaurants, including Chin Chin in the city, Hawker Hall in Windsor and the Ribs & Burgers chain, are offering discounts of 50 per cent to healthcare workers during the crisis.
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