FEED OUR HEROES
A group of friends came up with a fantastic way to show some love to healthcare workers and local eateries doing it tough in lockdown by enlisting the support of their community.
As restaurants and cafes battle to stay afloat with tough social distancing measures in place, and healthcare workers struggle to find the time to access nutritious meals, four Sydneysiders saw a way to help the restaurant industry and those on the frontline by bridging the gap.
Hally Lara, Kelly Taylor, Sanj Anderson and Paul Kelly founded Feed Our Heroes, an initiative to provide free, high-quality meals from restaurants to healthcare workers. People can donate money through GoFundMe, with 100 per cent of donations going to local restaurants that provide individually packaged, reheatable meals to staff at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Feed Our Heroes pays the retail price for the meals, $12 on average, giving local Sydney restaurants an additional revenue stream and putting some much-needed money back into the hospitality industry.
Just two weeks after launching the initiative, Australians had donated enough money to provide 525 free meals to hospital staff. Feed Our Heroes hopes to raise $100,000, which would help feed 500 healthcare workers a week for four months.
Co-founder Hally Lara says the idea for Feed Our Heroes was inspired by initiatives the four founders had seen abroad. “After a few weeks in isolation and wanting to find a way to
support those working hard to keep us all safe in the COVID-19 pandemic, we came across a few initiatives overseas where communities are feeding their frontline workers,” she says. “Within a week we had decided to bring the concept to Sydney and we launched Feed Our Heroes on GoFundMe.”
Feed Our Heroes is currently working with Hartsyard, Harvest by Darren Taylor and Three Blue Ducks. “Based on our funds, we approached each restaurant with our guidelines and have worked together with them to meet the hospital’s requirements while still delivering delicious, hearty, seriously good quality meals,” says Lara. Other restaurants wishing to become involved can register through the Feed Our Heroes website.
Lara says the team has received great feedback from both sides since launching Feed Our Heroes. “Healthcare workers are feeling the love and support of the community via a delicious meal, delivered to them at times when they’re finding it hard to step out for food,” she says. “Our restaurant partners are thankful for an additional revenue stream, in these uncertain and difficult times for the industry.” Lara says as community support grows, so will the programme. “We are currently in discussions with several other Sydney hospitals, and are looking to expand the service nationwide.”