The Health Sciences Centre Foundation in Winnipeg has made it their mission to feed the frontline workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 550 hot meals were delivered to health-care workers as they finished their shift at the Health Sciences Centre earlier this week.
The food was provided by Earls Restaurant and Bar, but the money to buy those meals came from donations by Winnipeggers.
“Our goal is to rally the community in support of the health-care professionals serving Manitobans on the frontlines at HSC,” said Jonathon Lyon, president and CEO of the Health Sciences Centre Foundation.
“We want to thank them, and we need to take care of them.”
“By providing meals, our community is acting to nurture, nourish, and express gratitude.”
Earls has included a donation option on their website, for customers to use when ordering food online from any of their three Winnipeg locations.
“We are so grateful that Earls approached us with this outstanding idea and an offer to provide meals at their cost so we could provide them for free to our heroes at HSC,” Lyon said.
Dinner will be served again Friday night and HSC plans to expand the program to more nights per week.
Earls says the meals are individually packaged and delivered to a parkade near the hospital where staff can claim a meal by presenting their HSC identification.
For sanitary purposes, the meals are only available for staff leaving the hospital at the end of the shift.
The HSC Foundation COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund also started a new initiative to make hotel rooms at the Canad Inns available for healthcare workers.
The rooms allow frontline workers a place to rest and wash between shifts or before going home.
“This crisis is bringing out the best in Manitobans,” said Lyon. “People have been generous, they care, and they want to do more. We are seeing the immediate impact of philanthropy, and we are seeing the compassionate spirit of Manitobans.”
Donations to the HSC Foundation COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund can be made online at hscfoundation.mb.ca or by phone at 204- 515-5612.