A group of neighbors in Northwest D.C. has found a way to support local restaurants and health care workers fighting the coronavirus simultaneously.
The neighbors have sent meals to 21 hospitals and three nursing homes and, in the process, also helped about 15 local businesses, said Kathleen Norris, a resident of the Spring Valley neighborhood.
Norris also said the group is close to raising about $7,000.
“I wanted to do something to help them (small businesses), and I wanted to help our front-liners,” Norris said. “I was thinking about how scary it would be to be a nurse, doctor, medical staff or a janitor at a nursing home or a hospital.”
The group has called on locals to make donations to the digital wallet using Venmo and supporting the account @kindness-fund.
“I knew we had a lot of good people that could come together,” Norris said.
So far, staff at Sibley Memorial Hospital, MedStar Washington Hospital Center and UM Prince Georges Hospital Center are among those who have received food from places like Pizza Paradiso, Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Ledo Pizza.
Meals have also been sent to the Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home and Lisner-Louise-Dickson-Hurt Home, both near the group’s D.C. neighborhood.
“We are hoping to continue this venture as long as our community needs it,” Norris said.
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