True Hospitality: Amazing Relief Efforts Worth Pitching in On
In a moving response to the global pandemic, chefs and hoteliers across the globe are producing thousands of nourishing meals to fuel frontline workers by day and providing comfortable beds for them to sleep in at night. For beleaguered doctors and nurses, staying near the hospital and avoiding the risk of bringing the virus home to their loved ones can be lifesaving.
But hotel- and restaurant-powered relief efforts don’t stop there: Millions of workers have lost their jobs, as kitchens and resorts have closed across the globe, but their former colleagues and employers are trying to stem some of their suffering with financial assistance, food, and more. We’ve highlighted nonprofits that we think are doing an incredible job and are well worth contributing to; every one of them is providing crucial, effective assistance to those who need it most.
Brilliant Fund-Raising Ideas from Chefs, Hoteliers, and Nonprofits
DINE 1-1
Dine 1-1 is a small nonprofit in the LA area that works to provide free meals to health care workers while supporting the local restaurant industry. It accepts donations from the public, partners with restaurants, and coordinates drop-off with hospitals. It’s a brilliant way to feed those who are working on the front lines while continuing to give much-needed support to restaurants that are struggling to maintain the volume of business they need to stay afloat; donate here.
Eleven Madison Park
Daniel Humm’s Eleven Madison Park is one of those bucket-list restaurants, and now its acclaimed chefs have traded dinner service for community service, feeding New York City’s hospital workers and caretakers with financial assistance from American Express and the nonprofit Rethink—and everybody is getting paid. The kitchen is producing over 2,000 meals daily that are delivered to hospitals via Citymeals on Wheels. To donate to Rethink, click here.
God’s Love We Deliver
Nothing, including COVID-19, stops the veteran team at God’s Love We Deliver from feeding the most vulnerable and sick members of society, which they’ve been doing since 1985. Facing the uncertainty of daily food delivery, the organization recently dropped off emergency kits of shelf-stable food and high-protein soups with their clients, just in case. To adapt to the current evolving situation and distancing requirements, God’s Love We Deliver has simplified production, reduced its volunteers (still managing to serve 10,000 meals daily in NYC), and provided all volunteers with the necessary protection. To tackle its rapidly growing client roster, the nonprofit is preparing hundreds of emergency meal bags alongside its daily hot food prep. Click here to donate or participate in the #WhoAreYouCookingFor campaign across social media to raise awareness. (Watch GP’s here.)
James Beard Foundation Relief Fund
The James Beard Foundation has set up a food-and-beverage-industry relief fund focused on smaller, independent restaurant and beverage businesses (the food and beverage industry employs almost 16 percent of the American workforce) that don’t have corporate funds or major backers to lean on for support. The foundation is fund-raising through individual and corporate donors to provide micro grants and urgent financial assistance. To donate, click here.
Restaurant Workers Relief Program
Until very recently, Nancy Silverton hosted the Restaurant Workers Relief Program crisis relief center out of her neighboring restaurants Chi Spacca and Osteria Mozza. Following their closure, relief efforts moved to Virgil Village’s epicenter of tasty breakfast and great jam, Sqirl. Sqirl owner Jessica Koslow has donated her space to the production and distribution hundreds of relief meals and essential items like diapers and shelf-stable foods for laid-off restaurant workers in collaboration with the Lee Initiative and Maker’s Mark. To donate to this relief effort supporting Los Angeles workers desperately in need, click here. (Note: Though closed for delivery, Sqirl is still operating a robust online store.)
ROAR
Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants works directly with Governor Cuomo’s office to provide urgent aid to New York City restaurants in partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation. The group is petitioning the government for more significant relief while delivering support in the form of grants, interest-free loans, and meals (via Brooklyn’s Gertie and Olmsted restaurants) to laid-off restaurant employees. If you’re a New York resident or a frequent visitor, or if you just love dining out in the city’s incredible restaurants, click here to donate. And if you want to show support and learn some new recipes at the same time, preorder Serving New York: For All the People Who Make NYC Dining Unforgettable, a cookbook with recipes from some of the city’s best restaurants. All the proceeds go directly to those in the restaurant industry who need help the most.
World Central Kitchen
Chef and humanitarian José Andrés’s nonprofit World Central Kitchen and his army of volunteers have fed those stricken by disasters in Puerto Rico, Mozambique, the Caribbean, California (during the wildfires), and now, cities and communities ravaged by COVID-19. Andrés and his team are well organized and, with so much past experience, are quick at coordinating a response. They’ve integrated restaurant kitchens and delivery services to prepare meals for hospital workers, seniors, children, and other vulnerable people totaling over 100,000 meals across America per day. Click here to donate.
Some of Our Favorite Hotels are Hosting Hospital Workers for Free 
New York City
The Four Seasons Hotel, the Plaza Hotel, the St. Regis, and the Wythe Hotel are all providing free rooms for medical personnel working in nearby hospitals in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. For the many hospital and frontline workers with roommates or families (or long commutes), this solution helps curb further contamination and gets some of the world’s bravest, most heroic people a solid night’s sleep.
London
Claridge’s, closed to guests but open for hospital workers, is also donating amenities like soap, shampoo, and toothbrushes in the thousands to those in need. Its sister hotel, the Berkeley, has opened a drive-through lunch station for London’s emergency services. Tea and coffee service starts at 10 a.m. daily, while hot lunch prepared by the Berkeley chefs is available in front of the hotel on Wilton Place from 11 a.m.
Amalfi Coast
Four of the most glamorous, steeped-in-la-dolce-vita hotels on the azure Amalfi Coast have teamed up to raise money to support efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Le Sirenuse, Il San Pietro, Hotel Santa Caterina, and Palazzo Avino are hoping to raise 200,000 euros by selling vouchers that include two-night stays, dinner, and other experiences worth 5,000 euros apiece. Every last cent will go to the Pascale Foundation, which is spearheading the effort to develop a vaccine in Italy. These four properties are pure magic; why not purchase a stay to look forward to later, and know that every euro is going into crucial research happening right now?
DINE 1-1
Dine 1-1 is a small nonprofit in the LA area that works to provide free meals to health care workers while supporting the local restaurant industry. It accepts donations from the public, partners with restaurants, and coordinates drop-off with hospitals. It’s a brilliant way to feed those who are working on the front lines while continuing to give much-needed support to restaurants that are struggling to maintain the volume of business they need to stay afloat; donate here.
Eleven Madison Park
Daniel Humm’s Eleven Madison Park is one of those bucket-list restaurants, and now its acclaimed chefs have traded dinner service for community service, feeding New York City’s hospital workers and caretakers with financial assistance from American Express and the nonprofit Rethink—and everybody is getting paid. The kitchen is producing over 2,000 meals daily that are delivered to hospitals via Citymeals on Wheels. To donate to Rethink, click here.
God’s Love We Deliver
Nothing, including COVID-19, stops the veteran team at God’s Love We Deliver from feeding the most vulnerable and sick members of society, which they’ve been doing since 1985. Facing the uncertainty of daily food delivery, the organization recently dropped off emergency kits of shelf-stable food and high-protein soups with their clients, just in case. To adapt to the current evolving situation and distancing requirements, God’s Love We Deliver has simplified production, reduced its volunteers (still managing to serve 10,000 meals daily in NYC), and provided all volunteers with the necessary protection. To tackle its rapidly growing client roster, the nonprofit is preparing hundreds of emergency meal bags alongside its daily hot food prep. Click here to donate or participate in the #WhoAreYouCookingFor campaign across social media to raise awareness. (Watch GP’s here.)
James Beard Foundation Relief Fund
The James Beard Foundation has set up a food-and-beverage-industry relief fund focused on smaller, independent restaurant and beverage businesses (the food and beverage industry employs almost 16 percent of the American workforce) that don’t have corporate funds or major backers to lean on for support. The foundation is fund-raising through individual and corporate donors to provide micro grants and urgent financial assistance. To donate, click here.
Restaurant Workers Relief Program
Until very recently, Nancy Silverton hosted the Restaurant Workers Relief Program crisis relief center out of her neighboring restaurants Chi Spacca and Osteria Mozza. Following their closure, relief efforts moved to Virgil Village’s epicenter of tasty breakfast and great jam, Sqirl. Sqirl owner Jessica Koslow has donated her space to the production and distribution hundreds of relief meals and essential items like diapers and shelf-stable foods for laid-off restaurant workers in collaboration with the Lee Initiative and Maker’s Mark. To donate to this relief effort supporting Los Angeles workers desperately in need, click here. (Note: Though closed for delivery, Sqirl is still operating a robust online store.)
ROAR
Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants works directly with Governor Cuomo’s office to provide urgent aid to New York City restaurants in partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation. The group is petitioning the government for more significant relief while delivering support in the form of grants, interest-free loans, and meals (via Brooklyn’s Gertie and Olmsted restaurants) to laid-off restaurant employees. If you’re a New York resident or a frequent visitor, or if you just love dining out in the city’s incredible restaurants, click here to donate. And if you want to show support and learn some new recipes at the same time, preorder Serving New York: For All the People Who Make NYC Dining Unforgettable, a cookbook with recipes from some of the city’s best restaurants. All the proceeds go directly to those in the restaurant industry who need help the most.
World Central Kitchen
Chef and humanitarian José Andrés’s nonprofit World Central Kitchen and his army of volunteers have fed those stricken by disasters in Puerto Rico, Mozambique, the Caribbean, California (during the wildfires), and now, cities and communities ravaged by COVID-19. Andrés and his team are well organized and, with so much past experience, are quick at coordinating a response. They’ve integrated restaurant kitchens and delivery services to prepare meals for hospital workers, seniors, children, and other vulnerable people totaling over 100,000 meals across America per day. Click here to donate.
New York City
The Four Seasons Hotel, the Plaza Hotel, the St. Regis, and the Wythe Hotel are all providing free rooms for medical personnel working in nearby hospitals in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. For the many hospital and frontline workers with roommates or families (or long commutes), this solution helps curb further contamination and gets some of the world’s bravest, most heroic people a solid night’s sleep.
London
Claridge’s, closed to guests but open for hospital workers, is also donating amenities like soap, shampoo, and toothbrushes in the thousands to those in need. Its sister hotel, the Berkeley, has opened a drive-through lunch station for London’s emergency services. Tea and coffee service starts at 10 a.m. daily, while hot lunch prepared by the Berkeley chefs is available in front of the hotel on Wilton Place from 11 a.m.
Amalfi Coast
Four of the most glamorous, steeped-in-la-dolce-vita hotels on the azure Amalfi Coast have teamed up to raise money to support efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Le Sirenuse, Il San Pietro, Hotel Santa Caterina, and Palazzo Avino are hoping to raise 200,000 euros by selling vouchers that include two-night stays, dinner, and other experiences worth 5,000 euros apiece. Every last cent will go to the Pascale Foundation, which is spearheading the effort to develop a vaccine in Italy. These four properties are pure magic; why not purchase a stay to look forward to later, and know that every euro is going into crucial research happening right now?
