BY JASON COHEN
As restaurants are
struggling to stay afl oat and
medical professionals are
working long grueling hours
trying to save COVID-19
patients, one eatery in
Manhattan decided to give
back.
Luca Di Pietro is the
founder of Tarallucci e Vino
restaurant group, which has
fi ve establishments in New
York City. The coronavirus
caused him to shut down four
of his fi ve locations and lay
off 90 employees.
But shortly after the mayor’s
announcement to shutter
non-essential businesses,
he knew there was a way to
help doctors and nurses and
stay open. He launched Feed
the Frontlines NYC — an initiative
to get contributors to
buy meals from restaurants
in the fi ve boroughs to be delivered
to fi rst responders.
“Since that fi rst delivery
my father realized there was
an incredible amount of demand,”
said his daughter Isabella
Di Pietro, a senior at
Harvard University.
The goal of the initiative
is to keep staff employed and
pave the way for other restaurants
to do the same as they
work to feed more healthcare
professionals.
People can purchase a
meal for $25 on their website
and she and her family then
fi nd restaurants to deliver
food to a hospital. They have
already contacted hospitals
throughout the boroughs
that are all on board with the
program.
Feed the Frontlines is doing
2,000 meals a day and so
far more than 20,000 have
been delivered.
“We’re not making a
profi t right now,” Di Pietro
said. “It’s about survival.
We’ve been looking really
hard to push out into the
outer boroughs.”
One restaurant they are
Doctors at a Montefi ore hospital receive food from Tosca Photo courtesy Feed the Front Lines
working with is Tosca Marquee,
BRONX TIMES R 8 EPORTER, APR. 17-23, 2020 BTR
4034 East Tremont, in
Throggs Neck.
Manager Melissa Liebman
said like Tarallucci e
Vino, they laid off a lot of
staff due to COVID-19. Leibman
praised the initiative
and said it’s a win-win for everyone.
“We were looking for other
ways to get food to the hospital,”
she explained. “Feed the
Frontlines helps their restaurant
because people are
buying meals for the hospitals
and it’s raising money to
help keep staff employed.”
They are delivering food
fi ve days a week and have
brought food to Montefi ore
Moses, the Jack D. Weiler
Hospital, Wakefi eld and
BronxCare. This past week
alone they served 605 individually
packaged meals
to Bronx hospitals through
Feed the Frontlines.
Liebman, 41, has been
with Tosca for several years,
but never experienced anything
like this. Since doctors
and nurses are risking their
lives every day, she said the
last thing they should have
to worry about is food.
“It’s a great organization
and I’d really like people
to contribute and help,”
Liebman said. “Buying a
meal for one doctor doesn’t
take a lot.”
Initiative works on
feeding front line
health care workers
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