Boston is tapping local restaurants to feed the city’s hungry during the coronavirus pandemic that has left thousands of residents jobless — a “win-win program” Mayor Martin Walsh said helps address the city’s deepest need.
With an initial $461,688 in seed money from the city’s COVID-19 resiliency fund, nonprofit restaurant collaborative CommonWealth Kitchen is joining with chefs from three Boston restaurants to cook up thousands of meals for Boston families and individuals in need.
“Supporting these kind of ‘win-win’ programs is exactly why we launched the Boston Resiliency Fund … and quickly get resources into the communities that have the deepest needs,” Walsh said.
By June, the program hopes to employ at least 20 Boston restaurants.
“This has been a great way to get restaurants up and running again and also get people back to work,” Jen Faigel of CommonWealth Kitchen said.
Somalian immigrant Yahya Noor, who owns Tawakal Halal Café with his family, is making 300 halal meals per week families in need paid for through CommonWealth Kitchen’s CommonTable initiative.
The Noor’s takeout business has all but ground to a halt amid the pandemic, but preparing the meals at-cost allows them to keep the lights on and keep their 1-year-old business going for now. Noor said he is grateful to be able to “give back.”
“We came from a country that was war-torn where we lived in a refugee camp and we were the ones who lined up for food,” Noor said. “This is our calling.”
The cafe is open for takeout from 5 to 9 p.m. during Ramadan and will resume normal hours at the end of the month.
Ernie Campbell, owner of Jamaica Mi Hungry food trucks and restaurant, has whipped up more than 6,000 meals per week in CommonWealth’s commercial kitchen.
“Nothing goes to waste,” he said, joking that he hasn’t had the chance to incorporate any of his own signature flavors into the meals he’s made since the program launched nearly two weeks ago.
“Further down some Jamaica flavor will get into it,” he said. He’s still serving his signature dishes at his restaurant in Jamaica Plain daily from noon to 5 p.m.
Roughly 28% of Bostonians lived in extreme poverty before the pandemic struck. The city has distributed more than 900,000 meals to school-aged children and nearly 60,000 meals at dozens of food sites in every neighborhood since the COVID-19 crisis began.
Jonathan Greeley of the Boston Planning & Development Agency, who is aiding the city’s hunger response during the pandemic, said the city has seen a “consistent uptick in demand” for free meals, especially for adult meals.
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Boston taps struggling local restaurants to feed city’s hungry during coronavirus pandemic - Boston Herald
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