Thank You Healthcare Heroes

Last month we expressed our immense gratitude for the school food heroes of our country — some of whom appeared on the cover of Time this week. One school food worker from the Dallas Independent School District featured in the cover story had a touching remark: “Most people look at us as a cafeteria lady, I look at it as a service. If there wasn’t an epidemic we would be still serving kids who probably would not get another meal until the next day. It’s an honor for us to serve those kids.” This quote eloquently captures the importance of service in a time of crisis – something healthcare workers know all too well. 

Even on the most typical of days, healthcare professionals put their own health at risk to help others. And now they are caring for more people than they have ever had to, and doing an exceptional job. They are heroes, but they are still human. Even our heroes need some help from time to time; they need to know that somebody is also there for them. Dr. Chen Fu, from NYU Langone Medical Center told a Time reporter, “The only thing that really keeps me going is the kindness that everybody’s been showing me and everybody in the healthcare profession at this time. People who reach out, who buy me a meal, the people who let me know that they’re there for me across the digital line.”

That’s where our long-term partners at Chopt come in. Chopt Creative Salad Co. and Dos Toros have raised over $250,000 to launch and support their “Feed the Frontline” initiative — a program created to provide medical professionals with healthy meals everyday while they’re at work. They are donating over 1,000 meals a day to sustain the people who are sustaining us. 

A crisis is not the time to stop eating healthy. Hospital workers spend most of the day on their feet so they need a nutritious option like a salad to get them through the day. Chopt has always known the importance of a healthy and balanced meal, having supported our mission to feed kids real food for over 10 years. Now, they are going to great lengths to feed our healthcare workers real food.

To both our healthcare heroes and our Chopt heroes: Thank you. We are grateful for your sacrifices and hard work to support people in their time of need. As our NYC Mayor said earlier this morning, “I can’t tell you when we’ll be able to host cultural events and parades again. But I can tell you who our first parade will be for: When the time is right, New York City will honor our health care workers and first responders.” We can’t wait to see you there.