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COVID-19: Companies, communities band together to provide food for medical workers

Source
Jakarta Post - April 17, 2020

Arya Dipa, Bandung – Multi-service app Grab has collaborated with dozens of its restaurant partners to provide 1,000 food packages to medical workers in Bandung and Cimahi, West Java, in an initiative to help frontline workers in the fight against COVID-19.

Grab West Java partner engagement strategy lead Mawaddi Lubby said the program sought to express the company's appreciation for health care providers who were risking their lives on the frontlines of the COVID-19 fight.

"While other people are staying at home, they are working hard while facing various health risks. We want to express our gratitude," Lubby said in a written statement recently.

In addition to collaborating with 40 restaurant partners, Lubby said, Grab was cooperating with Intrafood and the Orang Tua Group to distribute 1,000 instant ginger drinks and 1,500 immune-boosting supplements to health care providers.

The company distributed food packages to five COVID-19 referral hospitals in the province on Tuesday: Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Rotinsulu Lung Hospital, Advent Hospital, Dustira Hospital and Santosa International Hospital. The food packages were also donated to personnel from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and the local police.

Advent Hospital director Roy D. Sarumpaet expressed appreciation for the donations, saying that any form of moral or material support for medical workers was essential as they had very challenging jobs during the pandemic.

"It could help lift the medical workers' spirits to treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic," Roy said.

Before Grab, several restaurants and communities had taken part in food donation programs for healthcare providers.

On March 26, United States-based restaurant chain Pizza Hut gave free pizzas to medical workers in several COVID-19 referral hospitals and community health centers (puskesmas) in Jakarta.

"We have cooperated with the Jakarta Health Agency to deliver free pizzas to COVID-19 referral hospitals and puskesmas. We gave the pizza not only to medical workers but also to all the staff working at the hospitals as they also contribute to stopping the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak," a representative from Pizza Hut chain operator PT. Sarimelati Kencana TBK told kompas.com on March 31.

PT Makindo, which owns the Ngikan food chain restaurants, also donated 1,000 food packages to medical workers in several COVID-19 referral hospitals in Jakarta last month.

"To show our huge support for health care providers who have sacrificed their time and energy during the COVID-19 outbreak, we are going to donate 1,000 food packages to medical workers," the company announced on its official Instagram account on March 27.

Since March 25, several Jakarta residents have also been participating in a food donation program for medical workers called Lunch 4 Paramedic.

"Under the program we provide free healthy and nutritious lunches for paramedics in Jakarta," Titi Rusdi, the program's founder told Tempo.co earlier this month. (nal)

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/17/covid-19-companies-communities-band-together-to-provide-food-for-medical-workers.html

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