Dear Friends, Family and Supporters of Meals of Gratitude —
Have we ever lived through a time where so much has changed, for so many, so fast? It’s hard to believe that less than a month ago, starting with a late-night conversation, Meals of Gratitude was born.
I work with many frontline healthcare workers at Stanford and I knew they were all bracing to meet the challenges that were coming with COVID-19. I also knew that restaurants like Flea Street and Cool Café were shutting down, and their workers were struggling to survive. I knew that my friends, neighbors, and colleagues all wanted to help people in need in this crisis, but weren’t sure how.
With the generosity of Open Collective, who waived their fees as a fiscal sponsor, as well as the advice and talents of good friends, we set up a structure, designed a logo, built a website and social media presence, and we held our breath to see what would happen next.
The most amazing miracle happened: all of you gave from your hearts and your wallets! We have over 540 donors to date, with donations ranging from $5 to $10,000! The response has been simply overwhelming, and thanks to your amazing generosity, we have raised almost $150,000 and have provided 3,182 delicious and special meals to Stanford frontline healthcare workers. This is an amazing accomplishment, and we are incredibly grateful for your partnership and support.
That’s the good news.
The hard news is that it looks like the need will continue longer than we hoped, likely into the summer. Our new goal is to raise another $150,000 for a total of $300,000. This will allow us to continue providing 1,000 meals a week through the end of July. While this goal might seem ambitious, we believe it is possible.
Meals of Gratitude is a demonstration of the strong bonds between the three points of our community triangle: 1) frontline healthcare workers; 2) restaurant workers and food suppliers; 3) supporters giving donations of all sizes. Should circumstances change and meals are no longer needed, we will donate any remaining funds to Second Harvest Food Bank.
If you’ve donated already, thank you so much. Please help us by talking about your support and our work on your social media channels. Please make sure to mention the website www.mealsofgratitude.com, and on Twitter follow and tag @mealsgratitude. Soon, we will start a “thank a healthcare worker” campaign, where you can name and thank a provider from the present or past and honor them, while tagging Meals of Gratitude and sharing our website. We are hopeful that this can help us continue to pursue our mission.
Thank you so much again for all of your generosity, encouragement and support! Please reach out to me anytime at hktabwil@gmail.com or to Jesse at jesse@cooleatz.com.
With gratitude,
Holly Tabor