the campaign took off on social media and word-of-mouth and in the first 10 days has raised about $6,000 in donations.
the initial goal was set at a modest $1,500 for meals to be delivered to montfort hospital staff, but with the outpouring of support so far, lalande and graystone decided to up the ante.
they plan to fund the first round of deliveries to the montfort next week, with meals set for three day shifts and three night shifts to cover as many staff as possible. the campaign will then extend in the following weeks to deliver meals to icu nurses in each of the civic, general and queensway carleton hospitals.
“we were trying to figure out a way to bring a smile to their faces, for at least some of the time. and who doesn’t love food being cooked and provided for you?” graystone said.
“so we figured if we could deliver meals to the hospital for them to have while they’re working, then it might make them smile, at least for a bit of time, but it would also let them know that the community is supporting them.”
lalande is managing the gofundme campaign, where she is hoping to surpass the latest goal of $6,500.
“we also know there are a great many other front-line workers who deserve our gratitude and recognition and support, but we can’t reach all of them, so we thought we’d reach out to this particular group who are providing such vital support and engaged in work that must be extremely difficult,” she said.