Want to Feed a First Responder? Order From These Kansas City Businesses
In Kansas City, local restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops and juice spots are looking for ways to give back to those first responders who are working day and night battling the coronavirus in local hospitals and medical facilities.
Many have rolled out programs that give customers the option to donate a meal, drink or care package to be delivered or shipped to a local hospital, fire or police station to help feed those who are fighting on the frontlines of the pandemic.
Consider adding one of these care packages onto your regular curbside carryout order to help feed a first responder while also helping to save a local food business.
Best Regards Bakery: Operation Gratitude
Robert Duensing has found a way to allow his customers at Best Regards to give back to the nurses and doctors putting their lives on the line during the pandemic. Every week, he adopts a different hospital in the Kansas City metro area; this week, it's St. Luke’s on the Country Club Plaza. Customers can go online and order a special box of Best Regards' 1/4-pound cookies, individually wrapped with a personal message of gratitude. A box of nine cookies is available at a discounted price of $24. Order by Mon., April 20 and the cookies will be delivered on Tue., April 21.
Order online at Best Regards Bakery and $2 from every box donated to Variety KC, a local children’s charity.
Bloom Baking Co.: Feed the Frontline
Before owning Bloom Baking Co. in the City Market, Sarah Darby worked as a registered nurse for nearly 15 years. During the H1N1 outbreak, she was on the Emergency Response Team at Truman Medical Center, so she knows what it feels like to be a tired and hungry first responder during a crisis. That’s why she established her program, Feed the Frontline, to allow Bloom customers to help feed those on the frontlines battling this virus. Supporters can choose to provide a single meal to a nurse, to a unit, department staff or to the whole building, with each meal being $10. People can also add a special message to their meals. Her staff will then prepare, pack and deliver the donated meals along with your words of thanks and encouragement.
Order online at Bloom Baking Co. to help those hospital workers stay fueled for the fight.
Bo Ling’s: Pay It Forward Partner Meals
Theresa and Richard Ng are committed to helping Kansas City get through this crisis by donating a portion of profits from their popular local Chinese restaurant chain, Bo Ling’s, to The University of Kansas Health system COVID-19 Response Fund. This money goes to help provide patient assistance, much-needed supplies and to cover unexpected expenses. In addition, they are also donating 100 meals per week to staff members at The University of Kansas Health System. If you would like to help, you can purchase Bo Ling’s Pay It Forward Partner Meals; each $50 package will provide meals to five medical workers. Additional meals can be purchased at $10 a piece.
Order online at Bo Ling’s, and help fund the folks on the frontline at KU Med.
Dolce Bakery: Bakes To Love
Erin Brown wants Kansas City to know that she and her team at Dolce Bakery bake to show their love. Right now, the Prairie Village bakery is offering you the opportunity to show your love too through care packages delivered to folks on the frontlines. Go online and donate anywhere from $25 to $250 to create care packages that contain freshly baked Dolce sweets and bags of Broadway Roasting Co. coffee along with a note of gratitude. They will be delivered by Brown's team to the fearless civil servants that are keeping all of us safe and healthy. Dolce will also match up to the first $500 of care packages purchased.
Order online from Dolce Bakery, and send a care package to say thank you.
Donutology: Care to Share
Andrew Cameron knows that Kansas Citians support one another, especially in challenging times. That’s why he and his team at Donutology developed Care to Share, an opportunity to honor healthcare workers and first responders with donuts. Order online and choose to have your box of donuts delivered to police, fire or hospital workers, with your own personal message on the box for $21.72. Not only will you be showing your support to our first responders, you’ll also be helping to keep Donutology, a locally owned small business, up and running during this challenging time, too.
Order online at Donutology and $2 from every Care to Share order will be donated to Operation Breakthrough, which provides safe, loving and educational environments for kids in poverty.
Succotash: Pay It Forward
Beth Barden has moved her curbside brunch operation at Succotash to strictly a pay-it-forward model feeding healthy, fresh meals to healthcare workers and families in need for $10. The popular restaurant on Hospital Hill in the Longfellow neighborhood is located just blocks from both Truman Medical and Children’s Mercy Hospital, making it the perfect place to get meals to the people who need them the most. When purchasing pay-it-forward meals, make sure to set order date for the next day.
Order online at Succotash today to feed a first responder tomorrow.
The Campground: Hospital Family Meal
It's time to treat local medical staff members to a family meal from The Campground in the West Bottoms. Co-owners Christopher Ciesiel (who used to work as a nurse in the ER in Kansas City) and Cristin Llewellyn currently have a menu item in the bar and restaurant's online store that allows you to donate a Hospital Family Meal from The Campground. As of the first week in April, The Campground been able to donate 60 meals to Research Medical Center ER and 30 meals to the Brookside ER. Donate anywhere from $25 to $400 through The Campground's website and the team will deliver a variety of meals to various local hospitals and medical facilities around Kansas City each week. Any amount helps, as they will be added to meet weekly tier minimums. Orders greater than $250 will be delivered to any facility a customer would like; otherwise, facilities will be chosen on a rotating basis by Ciesiel and Llewellyn.
Order on The Campground's website to feed the folks working the ER of local Kansas City hospitals.
Thou Mayest: LUV4FRMC
These are unprecedented and difficult times for all of us, but the next few weeks will be especially difficult for first responders and medical communities. That’s why Bo Nelson of Thou Mayest, is looking for help in getting these important people some freshly roasted coffee and a message of gratitude. Pick a special medical warrior, your local hospital, an ER, or police or fire station, then go online and order coffee to be shipped to them using the discount code LUV4FRMC (Love for First Responders & Medical Communities). Enter your special message, order a favorite Thou Mayest coffee (if you're unsure, Smooth Operator is a fan favorite) and get 10 percent off using the code. Be sure to enter the recipient's name and address to have the coffee shipped directly. Coffee can be shipped anywhere in the U.S.
Order online at Thou Mayest to help bring comfort and energy to those who need it most.
Zen Donkey: Wellness Shots
Kate Barker and her partner, Andy, started Zen Donkey Farms as a way to bring together their two passions: juice and donkeys. Together, they own a farm where they grow the organic vegetables needed to make delicious raw, cold-pressed, organic, vegan juices that they bottle and sell to raise money to support their donkey rescue in Greenwood, Missouri. As part of their juice line, they have a wellness juice shot called “The Healer” that has pineapple, ginger, turmeric and black pepper made to energize the mind and heal the body. Zen Donkey is currently offering “The Healer” for $4 per shot, which you can add to your order to be delivered to first responders. The two have partnered with local Dr. Rahul Kapur who will be picking up and delivering “The Healer” shots to medical professionals on the COVID-19 floors of the North KC Liberty Hospital.
Order online from Zen Donkey Farms and buy “The Healer” shot for a local healer.
Jenny Vergara
Jenny is Feast's contributing editor for Kansas City. She brakes for chef's coats.
