Restaurants Feed COVID Doctors, Nurses to Survive

At the end of December, coronavirus case numbers and hospitalizations were increasing in Portland, Oregon.

Doctors and nurses caring for the most seriously ill at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) were growing extremely tired just when they were needed the most. Then, some of the city's most popular restaurants began delivering meals to the hospital.

For workers who only took off their protective¹ face coverings once to eat during a 12-hour work day, the meals were more than just food. "It's almost like having a weight lifted. It's like getting a surprise dozen roses or something," nurse Alice Clark said. "We're so grateful."

The meals also served another purpose: They kept struggling restaurants in business. Eateries were closing after a months-long indoor dining ban. The hospital sometimes orders 150 or 160 meals at a time. So their business was a huge help to restaurants.

Kiauna Floyd is the owner of Amalfi's, a Portland restaurant that has been serving Italian food for 62 years. She said, "It's kept the doors open and a small workforce² employed."

Workers at the restaurant prepared around 500 meals for OHSU. That permitted Floyd to keep a number of her people working after dismissing³ 75 percent of her employees. The restaurant is currently⁴ struggling to stay in business with limited outdoor seating, orders for carry out and pre-prepared meals-to-go.

Amalfi's meals brought to the hospital proved to be among the most popular with the health workers at OHSU.

Floyd said, "We want to do something as comforting as possible so when they are on their break and do get that lunch, it warms their soul."

For now, though, meal deliveries⁵ to OHSU have stopped because the program paying for them ended on January 19. Leaders are hoping to find more money to get meals running again soon. The three-week effort paid local eateries a total of $39,000.

A similar effort was paid for by private donations⁶ through the nonprofit organization Frontline Foods PDX. The group connected restaurants with Portland-area hospitals and clinics early in the pandemic. But then donations began to decrease, and the effort slowed and then stopped.

That effort provided⁷ about 13,800 meals over three months to six health services, including a veteran's hospital and a homeless clinic. It was important support for 14 restaurants.

Shannon Tivona organized meal orders and delivery⁸ for OHSU and volunteered for Frontline Foods in its earlier work. "To be able to call and say, ‘Hey, I have $2,000 of business for you' is just the most incredible⁹ feeling," she said.

"The times where we're not doing anything are really tough. The restaurant owners call me and say, ‘Do you have anything yet? Do you have anything?' And it's heartbreaking to have to say, ‘No, I don't.'"

But many of the same restaurants were called upon to deliver 2,600 meals to OHSU health workers. For nurse Henry Valdez, the meals were a necessary break.

"I've never been more tired, mentally, physically¹⁰ and emotionally," he said. "When these meals started, I was just in awe¹¹. One or two times it brought a tear to my eye, the generosity¹² of people, because it has not been an easy year — and the food provided comfort."

Words in This Story

dozen –n. a group of twelve people or things

grateful –adj. feeling or showing thanks

comforting –adj. describing something that makes people feel less upset, worried or scared

soul –n. the spiritual part of a person

delivery –n. the act of taking something to a person or place

clinic -–n. a place where people can get medical help that is not as large as a hospital

generosity –n. the quality of being kind, understanding and not selfish

1 protective   

adj.防护的，保护的

参考例句：

• A mother naturally feels protective towards her children.做母亲的天生要保护自己的孩子。
• We feel safe with a protective device in the house.我们因为家里有了防护装置而感到安全。

2 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

3 dismissing   

v.解雇( dismiss的现在分词 )；（使击球员或球队）退场；使退去；驳回

参考例句：

• Experts are dismissing claims that the painting is a forgery. 专家排除了这幅画是赝品的说法。
• Dismissing confirmations thus becomes as routine as issuing them. 因此关闭确认对话框和发起确认对话框一样成为例行公事。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

5 deliveries   

投递( delivery的名词复数 )； [法律]（正式）交付； 分娩； 表演

参考例句：

• Deliveries of mail could be delayed because of cost-cutting. 由于削减成本，邮件的递送可能会延迟。
• We have developed rapid order processing to expedite deliveries to customers. 我们已创造了快速处理订单的方法以便迅速将货物送达顾客。

6 donations   

n.捐赠( donation的名词复数 )；赠送；捐款；捐赠物

参考例句：

• The hospital receives a good deal of money in donations. 这家医院收到捐赠来的大笔款项。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The charity is completely reliant on public donations. 这一慈善团体完全依靠公众捐款。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

8 delivery   

n.交付；投递；分娩；解救者；演讲的风格

参考例句：

• The strike caused a great delay in the delivery of the mail.这次罢工严重地延误了邮件的投递。
• He was employed at the local grocery store as a delivery boy.他受雇于当地杂货店当送货员。

9 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

10 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

11 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

12 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。