Thousands of free meals to go out to frontline hospital workers from today

Thousands of meals will be delivered to frontline hospital staff on Thursday through a partnership between Fisher Funds, Jess’ Underground Kitchen and Freightways. 

Opened yesterday, the ‘feed the frontline’ campaign will see up to 1,000 eligible healthcare workers receive a care package of three pre-prepared frozen meals. 

“The response has been fantastic with over five hundred applications in the first two hours of the website going live,” Fisher Funds chief investment officer Frank Jasper told Inside Retail.

“[We’re] always looking at how we can help our community and this seemed the best way to use our resources in the current situation.”

Partnering with another Kiwi business was attractive to Jasper, with Jess’ Underground Kitchen owner Jess Daniel telling Inside Retail she was proud to be part of the initiative. 

“To see Kiwi businesses rallying together in the face of a crisis to help those who are working tirelessly on the frontline – every tiny drop of kindness helps and we will continue to support our community to ensure we get through this together.”

The campaign is currently only available in the North Island, due to the logistics of transporting frozen meals. Jasper said the partnership is looking into ways to widen the distribution into the South Island soon, but didn’t want to delay the initiative. 

“We know it’s hard for nurses, health care assistants and ward clerks to juggle shift work with the lockdown restrictions and getting a nutritious meal,” Jasper said. 

“This is one small gesture from us that will mean a lot to a thousand people. We’ve seen a few companies doing their bit to help in the crisis and we encourage more to do the same. A little or a lot – it all helps.”

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