East Meadow chamber and community raise funds to feed front line workers

After seeing their community reduced to blocks full of closed or diminished businesses and a public hospital inundated with new patients, the leaders of the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce were looking for a way to keep their neighbors afloat through the coronavirus pandemic.

They recently launched a fundraiser to send meals from local restaurants to those on the front lines — like the staff of East Meadow’s Nassau University Medical Center.

Once or twice a day, the chamber sends community donations to a member restaurant, whose staff prepares and delivers platters of food to a local hospital, police precinct, fire department or other essential business. The chamber matches every donation up to $2,500.

Its vice president, Richie Krug Jr., who first pitched the idea, explained that members had been taking part in virtual meetings with chamber officials, who helped them access resources like the federal government’s Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

“This is really unprecedented times, and our businesses are still out there, so we were trying to figure out how to best support them,” Krug said. “Now we’re going to help the first responders and give businesses additional work.”

The fundraiser kicked off on April 6, when the chamber posted its plan on its Facebook page. Krug spoke to the Herald the following day, and said it had raised $500 in less than 12 hours. As of Monday night, the total had risen to $1,700, which the chamber matched, doubling it to $3,400.

The first order, for burrito lunchboxes from Qdoba, on Hempstead Turnpike, was delivered on April 8 to staff on nine floors of NUMC and one floor of the NuHealth Family Health Centers, a health care facility in Westbury.

Linda Walsh, the philanthropic director of NuHealth — the public health care corporation that runs both NUMC and thd Family Health Centers — distributed the meals to staff members. “It [was] a wonderful reminder to the staff that they aren’t in this fight alone,” Walsh said, “and [raised] their spirits to give them the strength to continue.”

Another donation came from the Bagel Place, on Bellmore Avenue, for staff at the Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow. Sheriff James Dzurenda sent a letter to Krug, thanking him and the chamber. “It is not often that the community recognizes the sacrifice and dedication to public safety by the correction officers each and every day,” Dzurenda wrote.

Thirty-seven restaurants remain open in East Meadow, and there is a growing list of recipients to which the chamber is willing to donate. “I called them all, introduced myself and said the chamber’s here for them,” Krug said. “A lot of people were so grateful just for the phone call and to have somebody to talk to.”

This led to another idea: The chamber recently launched East Meadow Eats, a Facebook group dedicated to restaurants that remain open, which details the services or discounts they offer. Community members can post in the group for information and ideas on where to eat.

The efforts of chamber members since the pandemic began have inspired Krug, he said. “Every day I would walk out the front door in high school — I was a 17-year-old punk — and my dad would say, ‘Richie, make a difference out there,’” he recalled, adding with a laugh, “I’d roll my eyes. But now I’m starting to see what he’s talking about.”

To donate to the chamber’s fundraiser, go to https://bit.ly/39TZH1x.