PORTSMOUTH, Va. — It was another busy afternoon at the Mercy Chefs' Portsmouth kitchen. This time, they're making free meals for healthcare workers on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.
The non-profit group plans to give away more than 800 free meals to seven hospitals around Hampton Roads, this week.
On Tuesday, Jan. 12 they gave 200 meals to Sentara Norfolk General.
Founder and CEO, Gary LeBlanc said he and his team started giving away free meals to healthcare workers, last month, as coronavirus cases started to peak.
“Every night this week we’re sending meals out to these folks that are working the overnight shift that just don’t have the ability to get out," LeBlanc said.
Coronavirus cases are at the highest they’ve ever been. Leblanc said he can only imagine how exhausted healthcare workers are.
“As they go into this week where they are seeing cases peak and beds full and just no room, we want to be there with them," LeBlanc said.
“It’s unbelievable what these folks are have gone through in the emergency rooms and the COVID wards; The length of time that they’ve been working - just double shifts and no time off, just the tragic events that they’ve had to deal with."
This is just a small part of the work the non-profit group has done since March. Since the pandemic began, non-profit group Mercy Chefs has cooked and served 7 million meals for people around the world.
“If providing a beautiful meal for them is something that lift their spirits, it’s the very, very least we can do for these heroes in our own community," LeBlanc said.
Mercy Chefs began delivering meals to hospitals, last month, with the help of a group called the Pantry Box Project.