A North County San Diego English professor has found a way to lighten the burden on both local restaurants and hospital workers who have been inundated with patients since the pandemic started.
It began as a one-time thing. Syndee Wood agreed to help a friend out by delivering a few pizzas she had purchased to hospital staff at Scripps Memorial in Encinitas.
“On a whim, I decided to post it on my social media and right away people started paying me money so that I can do it again,” said Wood.
Day after day, Wood found herself receiving more and more donations.
“I’ve got people who want to do something and they don’t know what to do so they donate the money that they might have spent on a night out,” said Wood. “They’re able to know that that’s going to local restaurants.”
An effort that has benefitted not only healthcare workers at Scripps but also locally-owned restaurants like KC’s Tandoor.
“It helps both of us,” said Karim Rai, owner of KC’s Tandoor. “Like it helps the restaurant survive and it also helps the front-line workers.”
KC’s Tandoor is a family restaurant that has been located in Encinitas for over 20 years. Like most businesses, the pandemic took a harsh toll on the eatery.
“It was kind of hard for us to figure out what we should do to just survive,” said Rai.
When Wood reached out to Rai about her non-profit, he didn’t think twice.
“We are really blessed to be a part of it,” said Rai. “They [the front-line workers] are the heroes of the pandemic.”
Since December, Wood has been able to collect over $25,000 in donations which have allowed her to deliver around 60 meals to hospital staff almost daily and help out over 30 restaurants.
“They are grateful, they are gracious and they are always willing to help,” said Wood.
Helping our community make it through the coronavirus pandemic one partnership at a time.
If you would like to donate, click here to help Feeding our Frontline Heroes.