Coronavirus Update: Citizens To The Rescue -- Group Sending Pizzas To Workers At NYC, Long Island Hospitals
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- As medical personnel work day in and day out to take care of us in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, who's taking care of them?
Well, some New Yorkers put their heads together and put out a call for donations to "Feed our Frontline."
The best kind of pizza is one tossed with love, and in these tough times there seems to be a lot of love to go around. One group in particular is collecting monetary donations to send at least 10 pizza pies to different New York City and Long Island hospitals every day, CBSN New York's Nina Kapur reported.
"My brother is a doctor at a New York City hospital. When I texted him, he responded with, 'Honestly we're just so busy, I'm lucky if I get to the vending machine to get a protein bar.' My heart completely broke hearing that," Ann Marie Toole said.
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So Toole and some friends put out a call for donations. They set up a GoFundMe page to "feed our frontline" on Wednesday.
"We just need to take care of each other. Take care of your neighbor, take care of anyone, your family members, your friends, strangers, everyone just needs to be lending a helping hand right now," Toole said.
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The bunch teamed up with two pizzerias -- one in New York City and one on Long island.
Mario's Pizzeria in Syosset was more than happy to help, and even discounted every pie going to first responders.
"In times like this we all got to work together, so we're helping all these great people and in turn it's helping us stay afloat and helping us retain our staff."
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Fulfilling large orders keeps the Mario's staff busy and its kitchen full. Nassau University Medical Center, Lenox Hill on the Upper East Side, and Long Island Jewish Medical Center are a few hospitals that already received anywhere from 10 to 40 pies.
"One of the doctors said that, 'I felt over the past week that we were all getting burned out and tired, but it was lifting to know that so many people appreciate all the work we're doing, no matter how thankless it may feel,'" Toole said.
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The group needs your help to keep our first responders fed. For more information on how you can contribute to the cause, please click here.
