Member News

Feeding the Frontliners Effort Concludes
Lebanon, PA
07/03/2020 02:08 PM

The Feeding the Frontliners initiative, which was launched in early May to provide meals for frontline personnel working to protect Lebanon County and its residents during the Covid-19 pandemic, has concluded, with its last meal delivery being made last week. The effort, which was funded with $30,000 in room tax revenues allocated by the Lebanon County Commissioners, was also intended to provide a boost to restaurants, delis and other eateries throughout the County that were hard-hit due to the requirement that they close for several months at the start of the pandemic.

Over the seven weeks of the Feeding the Frontliners effort, 2,465 meals, dessert treats or gift cards were delivered by volunteers to frontline staff in hospitals, nursing homes, EMT locations and other key organizations and facilities throughout the County. These deliveries were made by a team of fifteen volunteers to 32 frontline facilities throughout the County, with the meals, desserts and gift cards purchased from 31 different restaurants, delis, bakeries and other specialty food retailers in all parts of the County. A number of these eateries were used several times to help ensure that the purchases were spread as equitably as possible among these businesses.

 

Of the $30,000 in room tax funding provided by the County Commissioners for Feeding the Frontliners, approximately $27,940 was utilized for this effort. The balance of the funds not used during the initiative is being returned to the County.

The Feeding the Frontliners project was spearheaded by Lebanon Family Health Services, which served as the financial arm for the initiative, and the United Way of Lebanon County, which coordinated the volunteer pick-up and delivery of all the meals and gift cards from the eateries to the frontline facilities. Also supporting this initiative were the Community of Lebanon Association, Downtown Lebanon, the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visit Lebanon Valley.

Kim Kreider-Umble, President & CEO of Lebanon Family Health Services, stated at the time of the Feeding the Frontliners’ launch that the goal of this initiative was “to recognize and thank some of our community’s heroes who are on the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus, as well as supporting the restaurants in our community at a very difficult time.” With the campaign now concluded, she expressed the project steering committee “belief that these goals were pretty well achieved, thanks in large part to the financial support provided by the Commissioners and the involvement of a dedicated group of volunteers.”

 
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