As soon as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Toronto joined movements across the world to support frontline workers. Citizens bang their pots and pans to thank health-care workers as they begin shifts. Med students help out with daily errands. And networks have sprung up to deliver fresh meals to workers.
The latter initiative has Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia, companies like Paramount Fine Foods and everyday contributors showing appreciation for the people risking their health to curb COVID-19 spread while simultaneously supporting a struggling restaurant industry during lockdown.
Here are initiatives Torontonians can support right now.
Feed The Frontlines (Toronto)
Toronto’s Adair Roberts started Feed The Frontlines with her friends in New York, Kate and Luca Di Pietro, who owns the Taralluci e Vino restaurant group.
Roberts wanted to support Di Pietro’s struggling business by ordering 40 dinners to be delivered to the emergency department at a New York Hospital. And that’s how a movement started in Boston, New York and Toronto. Feed The Frontlines colllects funds via GoFundMe: $20 goes to a meal, $200 feeds an entire frontline team and $1,000 feeds and entire emergency, intensive care, medical or other department.
In Toronto, the organization works with restaurants like Tabule, Pukka and Pomegranite, and have raised nearly $250,000. In New York, the push has raised over $1.3 million.
Meals TO Heal
Jeff Packer and Div Mehra initially kicked off Meals TO Heal by partnering up with Alan Beckerman, the founder and CEO behind health-conscious cafe chain iQ. They’ve since served frontline workers at Mount Sinai, CAMH, North York General and Universal Health Network Hospitals. They’ve raised over $40,000 in donations to purchase meals from partner restaurant partners, including iQ, Basil Box, Village Juicery and Bangkok Garden. Meals TO Heal has served nearly 3,000 meals.
In My Scrubs Canada
Organizer Nicole Ko borrowed the concept for In My Scrubs Canada from the United States, where the hashtag #InMyScrubs became a rallying call challenging Americans to support health-care workers by staying at home – and buying them a meal. Ko has since packed up her #InMyScrubsCanada initiative after raising $14,000, delivering 1155 meals not just to hospitals but also long-term care facilities, and producing a short documentary from the initiative.
Inforce Foundation
Scarborough-based not-for-profit Inforce Foundation has been rallying support from the Tamil community especially with their drive to feed frontline workers at hospitals like Scarborough General and Markham-Stouffville and long-term care facilities like Sienna Altamont Community Care. Inforce has delivered 2,000 meals working with donors and restaurants like Southern Aroma and Boston Pizza.
Courtesy of Inforce Foundation
Volunteers with Inforce Foundation prepare meals destined for frontline workers.
Sustain The Line
Sustain The Line is like a matchmaking service as far as initiatives to feed frontline workers go. Restaurants willing to deliver to local hospitals submit their profile and donors hoping to feed staff at a hospital in a particular area do the same. The service, without getting involved in any transactions, pairs restaurants with donors so that both parties can sort out the purchase and delivery to a hospital listed in their mutual profiles.
Stand TOgether
Nando’s, Scarborough joint Twilight and Paramount Fine Foods are among the providers who have either donated money or goods to Stand TOgether, which has collected nearly $30,000 to feed hospitals and long-term care facilities in the GTA, from Toronto to Newmarket.
Meals On The Move
Toronto nurse Sarah Mattok contacted NOW to express both her gratitude for the meals the Toronto community has been generously providing to hospitals, but also a healthy dose of introspective criticism.
“Although I am honoured by these gestures,” Mattok wrote, “I feel lucky to have a job, a reliable paycheque, and am able to buy food.”
Mattok suggested the generosity be directed at the homeless.
Superfan Nav Bhatia’s organization Meals On The Move has been answering that call, serving food banks alongside frontline workers and shelter residents.
“Everyone needs to come together to ensure nobody goes without food on their table,” Bhatia said in a statement. The Superfan has been working with HGTV’s Sangita Patel and Peel Regional police to deliver hot meals in a food truck to shelters for women, youth and homeless, food banks, hospitals and long-term care facilities. Aiming to serve 300-500 per day, Bhatia’s organization is fielding suggestions on where they can deliver hot meals at contact [at] navbhatiasuperfan.com.
Courtesy Of Push Marketing Group.
Superfan Nav’s Bhatia’s Meals On The Move initiative makes a delivery.
Health Profession Students Supporting Our Health Care Workers During COVID-19
This group of medical students who are off school has rallied to support frontline workers with daily needs and even errands.
So far, 581 students mostly (but not exclusively) from the University of Toronto have signed up, hailing from varied programs like medicine, nursing, social work, dentistry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, chiropractic and teaching.
They have been helping over 200 frontline workers with task as varied as grocery runs, childcare, meal prep or purchasing and mixing baby formula to leave on a doorstep.
“We do whatever we can do to make physicians, nurses and social workers lives easier while they fight the fight,” says volunteer coordinator Matt Hacker Teper. “Because we can.”
