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Nicole Straight, of Westport, wanted to thank, and offer a little comfort, to all of the doctors, nurses, EMTs, and first responders, while at the same time helping the struggling workers of the restaurant industry.
Her solution, which turned out to be a fantastic success, was dreamed up “Food For The Front Lines,” a grassroots fundraising initiative that provides healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic with hot meals, while providing more than 35 area restaurants with large orders.
The idea for the organization came about when her daughter, Emma Straight, returned from college in California after it closed during the pandemic and began working with Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service where she has been a certified EMT since she was 16-years-old.
"Emma is the reason I started Food For The Front Lines almost 3 weeks ago," Straight said on a GoFundMe. "I couldn’t be more proud of her and all of the other front line health care hero’s working tirelessly every single day."
Once the idea was born, Straight went about raising funds and contacting restaurants and within a few days had more than $3,000.
She knew she was on to something and since March, has raised more than $54,000 and delivered more than 2,000 meals to area hospitals, EMS workers, ER departments, while keeping restaurant workers and owners employed.
The effort is serving Bridgeport, Stamford, Greenwich, Trumbull, Norwalk and Danbury hospitals, and has recently expanded to include Greater Hartford, New Haven, and Litchfield Counties.
To help keep the effort funded, Straight, in partnership with CTbites, started a GoFundMe effort for the community to donate.
Now the organization is hoping the public will help feed a doctor or nurse, or maybe that restaurant worker and become a donor.
The response from the recipients has been tremendous with many posting online their thanks.
Santosh Vaghela, an ICU Fellow at Norwalk Hospital, said “THANK YOU for what you’ve done for our staff!! It is such a relief to have one less thing to think about during our hectic day, and the food has been AMAZING!”
The same goes for the restaurants involved, with many posting on the group's Facebook page their appreciation.
To donate, or volunteer, click here.
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