Restaurants Stay Open, Coronavirus Health-Care Workers Stay Fed

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — Hospital workers are staying fed and restaurants are staying in business thanks to a county program that matches the two during the coronavirus pandemic.

A joint project of the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce and the Douglas County Economic Development Authority, Douglas Strong already has raised $22,000 in its first week to provide meals for workers at Wellstar Douglas Hospital.

Chamber president and CEO Sara Ray said the idea was inspired by chamber chairman Craig Owens, who also is president of Wellstar Douglas. “It always came back to ‘we need to take care of our people’,” Ray said.

The program provides separately packaged “sustainable meals” for all 520 Wellstar Douglas employees, usually delivered twice a day by a local restaurant or caterer to a hospital loading dock. Chamber staffers also have delivered “care packages” of non-perishable food like tuna, mac and cheese, and cereal to stock hospital break rooms.

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According to Ray, the meals not only save money for frontline health-care workers, they help protect them and others by not forcing them to go out into public to get food. “They’re experiencing all the same problems we experience,” Ray said, “but they have no choice but to go to work.”

The program also helps restaurant owners, who’ve told Ray that even with takeout and deliveries, they don’t have enough business to sustain them.

Donations so far have been spread among 10 business underwriters who’ve each paid for a day and more than 200 individuals who’ve donated smaller amounts. According to Ray, feeding Wellstar Douglas’s employees for a day costs about $3,000. Donations can be made on the chamber's Douglas Strong webpage or by calling 770-942-5022.

“As long as we can feed them we will keep feeding them” Ray said. “They are so thankful and appreciative.”

Among the Douglas County restaurants and caterers who've delivered meals are Bojangles', Cracker Barrel, The Farmer's Table, Firehouse Subs, Honey Baked Ham, Hudson's Hickory House, Moe's Southwest Grill, The Otherside, Panera Bread, Texas Roadhouse, Simply Catering, Subway, The Vine Cafe, Williamson Brothers and Yogi Mogli.

Ray, who’s planned business-oriented events for the chamber for the last 10 years, said she never imagined that eventually she would be coordinating meal delivery. “It puts it all in perspective,” she said. “It’s so uplifting to see our community pull together.”

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