Treat For Heroes - Free Food Program

We created this Program with the main goal of providing free food to our Frontline Heroes. They all have sacrificed so much to help save the many...this is such an understatement, knowing the things they have to go through everyday in battling this pandemic...struggling, trying to give more when there's nothing left, telling themselves one more...one more...when their inner core tells them no more...but they still continue to give unselfishly and unconditionally, holding on to every patients' hand, giving them hope when they are crushed with anxiety and fear deep down...they are the real brave ones...they are the real heroes in this battleground. And when all these is over...when the dust has finally settled, we may not know when that will be...but we are certain and we know that their pledge to help and their oath to save lives will continue no matter what...but we want to be able to look back to this moment in time and say that somehow, in our own little way we were able to bring a smile to their faces even for a brief moment, lifted their weariness and warmed their bellies with the food that we provide. They will always be our Heroes.

The restaurant and hospitality industry is badly hurt, most might not even recover...and our hearts go out to our fellow restaurateur comrades. This has never been easy for most of us. Dreams are crushed and means of livelihood taken away. Despite the fact that money is scarce and business has been really slow, we couldn't help but think about the community, the front liners and everyone who has risked their lives everyday to save the many. We've always believed that no matter how less you have or how unfortunate your situation is or it becomes....you always, always still have something to give. It could be your time, your listening ear, your warm smile, your words of encouragement or your dollar in your pocket. For us, even if it has been a struggling time, we pledged to help in our humblest, simple way and the best way we know how...to serve and provide great tasting food. We have been going around to hospitals, long-term care facilities and nursing homes delivering food.

We have been doing this on our own and we want to be able to provide more and reach more front liners. But we can't do this alone.....we need your help and support. With this money that we will raise, we will be able to deliver more food to more hospitals, more nursing homes and to more health care facilities in and around the GTA. We will be able to treat more of our heroes. Every time we deliver food to the front liners, seeing them smile and their warm 'thank you's' and letting them feel that we are also here to care for them....it touches our inner self, the very core of our being. We feel the interconnectedness and oneness all throughout. Please, we need your help and support so we can do more and reach more of our front liners and continue to run this Free Food Program that we have started.

We may not be able to fully fathom how much sacrifice our frontline heroes do each and every single day and we may not fully feel the thoughts and feelings that run through their hearts and mind...so we thought it best to share this personal note. This story is from our sister's personal journal who is also a front liner. Her name is Noreen and she is working as a Critical Care nurse in one of the hospitals in California. By sharing this story, we hope to give you a glimpse of what a day is as a front liner.

Any front liner could be holding your loved ones' hand in critical care....let us show them that we can also hold theirs.

----Personal Journal-------
This is one of my patient. Vented and sedated. Very labile, with every turn he drops his oxygen. For the whole 12 hours I was up on my feet making sure he is oxygenating well. I have to make sure he will not crash. Not on my watch.
Its hard to be in healthcare. It’s physically and emotionally draining. With this Novel Virus, it’s hard to be sick alone and much worse to die alone. So not only do I render care and carry out orders but I’m there to hold their hands, comfort them and tell them that I am there for them. When they have that breathing tube, they may not hear me nor can talk to me but I whisper in their ears and tell them that they are in good hands and everything will be okay. I try to give them that HOPE because when you’re on that bed and you’re hanging by a thread, all you can do is to surrender and hang on to whatever tiny glimpse of light. I stand as their family when their own family can’t come visit them as much as they want to. I stand as the family’s counselor and comfort their love ones while all they can do is weep, feel guilty and be anxious coz they can’t be there physically to give support. I cry and weep with them when everything else’s fails. A patient advocate, that’s who I am. Long hours of standing, forgetting to eat, and can hardly go to the bathroom just to save lives.

This is what I do and this is what I signed up for when God gave me my first breath. This is what I’m born to do and this is what I’m good at. So as long as I live, I will serve. We will get through this. Hand in hand we will brave this storm and I know we’ll come out strong. Stronger than we’ll ever be.