Excellent way of doing good

I volunteered for Taste of Tribeca for many years. It was an event I really enjoyed,  food,  community,  supporting local schools. Win/win/win. I'm so glad that they are doing this.  I love this idea!  Please support it if you can. This is all from the Broadsheet - a local Tribeca news letter.   Role Reversal Downtown Food Festival Supports Local Restaurants by Feeding Healthcare Workers

The ever-popular Taste of Tribeca food festival has been cancelled for this year, but the organizers are rallying support to help the now-struggling restaurants that have contributed food for decades, by purchasing meals to donate to hospital workers.

Starting today, up to 100 free meals will be arriving daily at local healthcare facilities, prepared by half a dozen Lower Manhattan restaurants, and paid for with contributions solicited by the Downtown parents who organize the Taste of Tribeca food festival. For the past 25 years, that event has accepted food contributed by dozens of eateries, and sold these “tastes” at a street fair, to raise money for two beloved local public schools: P.S. 234 and P.S. 150. Earlier this month, however, mounting concerns about the pandemic coronavirus forced the first-ever cancellation of the event. Realizing that this tragedy represented an opportunity to repay decades of generosity from local restaurants, at a time when these establishments are facing financial ruin, the organizers established a Taste of Tribeca Community Fund, and created a contribution portal on GoFundMe, which can be found here: https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/taste-of-tribeca-community-fund Taste of Tribeca board member Bettina Teodoro explains that, “this is a campaign to help our neighborhood restaurants and the emergency room at New York Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan Hospital, by buying meals from the former to feed entire shifts at the latter.” In just the last three days, 84 donors have contributed over $12,000, which is more than half of the project’s overall goal of $20,000.

“We’d like to do this as often and as much as we can,” Ms. Teodoro adds, “and if means allow we will branch further afield to other hospitals in the City. It’s a work in progress, but our team will do the best we can to help as many people and businesses as we can.” Among the Lower Manhattan restaurants supplying food (and receiving financial support from the Taste of Tribeca Community Fund) are Zuckers Bagels, Paisley, Anejo, City Vineyard, Khe-Yo, Restaurant Marc Forgione, and Maman. “Our aim -- to feed 100 hospital workers at a time, at a cost of $10 per person -- is simple, but the benefits are far-reaching,” Ms. Teodoro reflects. “An order of this size will help to keep open a restaurant that at this time is relying solely on take-out and delivery orders. And the gift of a nourishing, delicious meal will help to refuel our tired and hungry doctors, nurses and medical support staff.” The organizers are reaching out to other hospitals around the City and exploring delivery options. The response has been so overwhelming that the project’s scope has already expanded from to cover emergency staff at Mount Sinai, NYU Langone, and Bellevue Hospital. The team behind the Community Fund emphasizes that no donation is too small, and 100 percent of all contributions (minus a small processing fee) will go directly to the purchase of meals for an entire shift of hospital workers. “The more money we raise, the more shifts we can serve, the more restaurants we can support, and the more we can expand this program to other area hospitals,” Ms. Teodoro observes. Taste of Tribeca is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, all donations are tax-deductible, within the limits prescribed by law. The organizers will send all donors a receipt acknowledging their contribution. Matthew Fenton