Two volunteer groups partner to feed 3,500 hospital workers

Two grassroots campaigns are joining forces in a bid to give at least 3,500 meals to frontline health-care workers in the Philadelphia area this Sunday.

Fuel the Fight, whose three-week-old GoFundMe drive has raised about $82,000 in cash plus twice more in commitments to buy and give away restaurant meals to workers at 10 Philadelphia-area hospitals and coronavirus testing sites, is working with #SavePhillyEats, an online platform where restaurants sell special experiences and gift cards that has attracted high-profile restaurateurs including Jennifer Carroll, Mike Strauss, and Ange Branca.

Fuel the Fight has the cash while #SavePhillyEats has the clout. They’re calling this joint effort #GivePhillyEats.

Meanwhile, as is typical behavior in the food industry, restaurants and pizzerias everywhere are sending food to first responders working during the coronavirus crisis.

» READ MORE: Philly and organizations around the region give out free food for communities

The #GivePhillyEats meals — an entrée, side, and dessert — will not be traditional Passover or Easter dinners, says Bill Conners, a tech entrepreneur who founded the all-volunteer Fuel the Fight three weeks ago with his wife, Lauren, and five friends, his business partners Mike Mayock and Woody Klemmer; Cole Berman and Mike Davis, who are in finance; and Alex Penza, who is in wholesale produce.

“We want the restaurants to put their own diverse spin on them,” said Conners, who before helping to found Fuel the Fight had no restaurant experience or background.

Fuel the Fight, which raised $20,000 in the first 48 hours, has played broker, arranging and paying for meals, which in turn keep the participating restaurants going. The restaurants and Fuel the Fight volunteers deliver the food to the hospital workers.

Through a new association with the national effort Frontline Foods, which has 501(c)3 charitable status, Fuel the Fight can accept corporate donations. Wayne-based Evolve IP, for example, has agreed to match employee contributions.

Sunday’s #GivePhillyEats effort has received commitments from chefs and restaurants. Besides Carroll, Strauss, and Branca, buy-ins have been received from Safran Turney Hospitality (Barbuzzo, Lolita, etc.), High Street on Market, Garces Catering, Joey Baldino (Palizzi Social Club and Zeppoli), Éclat Chocolate, and Marc Vetri (Vetri Cucina and Fiorella). Vetri and Jose Garces will prepare meals at home, while other chefs will put on masks to work out of the Fitler Club, which has donated use of its kitchen.

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The #SavePhillyEats platform was created by entrepreneurs Anthony Bucci and David Bookspan after they saw restaurants soliciting for donations on GoFundMe. “We thought we could aggregate and amplify all the eyeballs out there,” Bucci said.

The platform lists revenue-generating premium experiences, such as home-cooked dinners by chefs, a trip to Cuba with chef Guillermo Pernot of Cuba Libre, and discounts on restaurant gift cards.

SavePhillyEats does not take commissions or charge for participation.