The Feeding Frontliners Project, founded by Hyde Park residents Kate Oakes and Susan Alitto (mentioned in a previous blog post), organized two large meal drop-offs at UChicago Medicine on Monday, November 30.
Local restaurants Chant and Rajun Cajun were selected to prepare meals for healthcare workers – with 50 meals from Chant for the hospital’s pediatric emergency department, and 100 meals from Rajun Cajun for the main emergency department.
The group was founded in June 2020 when Oakes and Alitto, concerned about struggling Hyde Park restaurants as well as UChicago Medicine frontline healthcare workers, began to collect donations to purchase meals for workers catered by local restaurants. The Feeding Frontliners Project has raised $4,031 to date, with $2,500 spent at local restaurants, including $1,500 for yesterday’s Chant/Rajun Cajun delivery. A partnership with the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club as a non-profit fiscal sponsor has made it possible for the group to accept tax-deductible donations.
Partnering restaurants/companies currently include Ascione Bistro, B’Gabs Goodies, Bonne Sante Health Foods, Café 53, Can’t Believe It’s Not Meat, Cedars, Chant, Domino’s Pizza, Food & Paper Supply Co., Hyde Park Produce Market, Litehouse Whole Food Grill, Mikkey’s Retro Grill, Medici on 57th, Nando’s PERi-PERi, Nella Pizza e Pasta, The Nile, Piccolo Mondo, Pizza Capri, The Promontory, Rajun Cajun, Roti Modern Mediterranean, Saucy Porka, Seoul Taco, The Soul Shack, and Virtue.
Visit hpnclub.org/index.php/programs/neighbors-together/ for more details and to make a donation. Donations can also be mailed via check to HPNC, 5480 S. Kenwood Avenue, Chicago, IL 60615. Indicate “Feeding Frontliners Project” in the memo.