Local creatives to feed healthcare workers

A group of local Birmingham bloggers and digital creators announced that they would be using their platforms to team up to give back. The initiative, announced in a press release on Friday, is called Frontline Heroes. They will provide meals to healthcare workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic at Birmingham area hospitals. 

The mission of Frontline Heroes is to feed healthcare providers, nurses, and support staff, who are risking their lives each and every day to protect the health and safety of our beloved Birmingham community. 

Vestavia resident Lindsey Lutz was looking for a way to give back to the community when she saw a blogger in Houston, Texas collecting donations to give back to local medical teams there. She instantly thought that she could do this in Birmingham and started recruiting others with influence to use our platforms for the greater good. After sending out a group message, she received dozens of positive responses. 

The group’s goal is to serve 1,400 meals in the first week of the initiative to the frontline healthcare workers fighting the COVID-19 epidemic at local Birmingham area hospitals, which will begin Monday, March 30. 

The group’s Instagram hashtag is #frontlineheroes and the various local creatives across the city will post details on their platforms to raise money and collect donations to purchase meals Donations can be made through Venmo to @frontlineheroes. All donations will go directly towards purchasing meals from Birmingham area restaurant partnerships. 

The group is partnering with Birmingham area restaurants to support the food and beverage industry and its employees. As a way of giving back themselves, restaurants are donating a portion of meals and providing a discounted price for the meals purchased with donations collected. 

The initiative will kick-off on Monday with Fit Five Meals and meals will be delivered to the COVID-19 floor at UAB Highlands and UAB Main. On Tuesday, the Cahaba Heights Zaxby’s will donate meals for the entire day.

Several restaurants at The Summit will participate in the effort, including Shake Shack on Wednesday, Chuy’s on Thursday, Panera on Friday, Seasons 52 on Saturday, PF Changs on Sunday and Real & Rosemary the following Monday. The meals on this day will be made possible by The Summit’s new tenant, Battle Republic. Real & Rosemary will take their partnership further by matching the meals purchased on this day.

On Tuesday, April 7, Bellini’s Ristorante located on U.S. 119 will be supplying meals. 

“As soon as our team heard about this initiative, we immediately agreed to aid in a collaborative effort through the restaurants at The Summit,” said Carver Boynton, General Manager of The Summit.”

The Summit will also be making a donation towards the initiative to help increase the amount of meals Frontline Heroes will be distributing.