SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Some of Sacramento's finest restaurants are teaming up to feed hundreds of seniors and low-income families during the coronavirus pandemic.
Their mission Wednesday was to deliver 800 meals to those in need. With "Family Meal," restaurants like Mulvaney's Building and Loan are giving back.
Mulvaney’s is joined by Allora, Canon, Camden, and Binchoyachi to prepare boxes for each senior every Monday with prepared meals that will last four or five days, plus a snack bag. At first, they admit it was overwhelming.
"Can we even do this? We are chefs who make food to go on plates. We don't make food for 800 people at a time, to-go. So what we decided is that we would make 100 bags to feed four people a day and send them out," Chef Patrick Mulvaney said via FaceTime.
Mulvaney closed his restaurant when the stay-at-home order was put in place. He said he let go more than 50 of his staff, but the need to continue to feed the community is great so he was able to bring back some staff to help deliver meals not only to seniors but also to students and their families at Sac City Unified.
"Now we know how to do it. We know how to feed 200 and 400 and now we know how to feed 800," Mulvaney said.
Each kit costs the city of Sacramento $30. The money comes from the City Attorney's "Justice for Neighbors" program, which is funded by fines levied on properties that host nuisance businesses like drug or prostitution enterprises, according to the City of Sacramento's Mayor's Office.
The restaurants will use the money to pay their employees and continue to pay suppliers and farmers for ingredients.
"Let's do what we know best, which is to feed people and if we can do our little part and everyone else can do their part then we will get through this together," Mulvaney said.
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