RESTAURATEURS PROVIDE FOOD TO RCH

Dominique Leach, owner of Lexington Betty Smokehouse, prepared 180 meals to give to patients and healthcare workers at Roseland Community Hospital. Photos courtesy of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives.
Dominique Leach, owner of Lexington Betty Smokehouse, prepared 180 meals to give to patients and healthcare workers at Roseland Community Hospital. Photos courtesy of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives.

Restaurateurs provide food to RCH

BY TIA CAROL JONES

When Roseland Community Hospital (RCH) had to close its kitchen, several organizations in the community came to its aid to feed the patients and employees. The hospital is on the frontlines, testing and taking in patients with COVID-19.

Food purveyors, Lexington Betty Smokehouse and Majani Vegan Restaurant, at One Eleven Food Hall, located on 712 E. 111th St., had to close their business for sit-down patrons due to COVID-19 restrictions and eventually, closed their doors due to a lack of business. After that, and in the midst of the pandemic, the restaurants started filling a void and began providing food to healthcare workers and patients at Roseland Community Hospital.

Dominique Leach is the owner of Lexington Betty Smokehouse. Leach said this is a time where everyone should be in the helping mode and she is happy to help. If a hot meal can be helpful in any way possible, Leach said she wants “to be a part of that.”

Lexington Betty Smokehouse made 180 meals. Some meals were modified for the patients to include healthier options such as a macaroni, pasta salad and marinated grilled chicken.

Leach said she was a little frightened to deliver food to the hospital initially. And, considered doing the delivery alone because she didn’t want to put anybody in harm’s way. Leach said she was surprised to find the street to the hospital blocked off.

“So immediately I’m thinking, ‘wow, this hospital has really been hit by the pandemic.’ I wasn’t expecting the street to be blocked off and guarded by a police officer,” she said. “I explained I was dropping lunch off. And, by that time, my heart just really went out to everyone that’s working in there. So, I was just really determined to get the food to them and hoping that they would be happy with it and as happy with it as I was to cook it for them,” she added.

“We’re in this together, everyone should just be as helpful as they possibly can and stay safe, stay in the house,” Leach said. “I feel really optimistic that we’re closer to the end of this.”

Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives is a non-profit organization based in Pullman. It has received funding from Pullman Bank. Jennifer Bransfield, of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, said the organization focuses on small businesses including entrepreneurs and has partnered with One Eleven Food Hall and Roseland Community Hospital.

“We also realized our entrepreneurs, specifically in the One Eleven Food Hall, were taking a huge hit on their business. When the stay-at-home order was issued, they really lost a lot of walk-in customer business,” she said. “Of course, we thought of the idea to seek grant support from the financial institutions who financed all of these projects to see if they would help provide some financial support to entrepreneurs to provide meals to Roseland.”

Bransfield said the organization has been following Roseland Community Hospital’s CEO Tim Egan and his call for supplies and support. She said the organization did what it does best, help raise funds. So, it reached out to U.S. Bank.

“We said ‘look, this is a fantastic opportunity to fund these small business entrepreneurs who have really been struggling but have the capacity to fill large scale catering orders, just down the street within a mile. We have a hospital that needs meals. So, it’s a perfect match,’ “ she said.

Egan said the hospital has faced challenges to keep its doors open in the past. But now, it is at the center of fighting COVID-19 in the community. He said the meals were welcomed. And, they are grateful for everyone who came to the hospital’s side in the fight.

“We’ve had to experience the best. And, this gets us to experience the best,” he said. “It energizes us to know that we have friends in our community and all across our city that are willing to come to our aid and help our patients and our heroes that don’t wear capes -- our doctors, our nurses, our medical assistants, our environmental services, our dietary people, our security staff.”

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