LUCAS RAAGAS, BYLINE (0:00): In Massachusetts, non-essential businesses closed on March 24th. COVID-19 has caused restaurants to close their doors, hospitals to fill, and people to lose their jobs. Many food pantries and businesses have made drastic changes in order to serve the new needs of the people affected.  Off Their Plate is a grassroots movement that began just over a month ago. Beginning in Boston, the entirely volunteer organization has spread to eight other cities across the country with a goal of financially aiding local restaurants in order to have meals delivered, for free, to emergency medical workers. 

​

TRACY CHANG (0:30): Boston is our most heavily funded city and also our highest need in terms of the severity and sort of peak of COVID right now, while cities like Seattle and LA are not as intense right now.

 

LUCAS RAAGAS (0:48): That was Tracy Chang, the owner of Pagu, a local restaurant in Cambridge and one of the founding members of Off Their Plate. Beginning with Chang delivering 90 meals made at her restaurant to Brigham and Women’s hospital in the trunk of her car, the distribution in Boston alone has risen exponentially. 

 

CHANG (1:03): Last week we brought on 4 new restaurants, this week we’re bringing on another 4, next week we’re bringing on at least another 3. I think, I mean last week we did 15,000 as a city, this week we did 20,000, next week about 25. 

 

RAAGAS (1:17): So far, they’ve raised $3 million. According to Dillon Arrick, Off Their Plate’s director of Public Relations, 

​

DILLON ARRICK (1:25): Our median donation is $100. So that just kind of shows you how many people, if we’re at 3 million but  our median donation is a hundred, that just shows how many people have supported our mission and really believe that we’re doing something that works and has an impact. And that’s the most exciting thing for me. So like $25 here and there, really adds up. And somehow we’ve reached 3 million which is incredible.

 

RAAGAS (1:56): For how big of an operation Off Their Plate has become, the group is smaller than you may think, 

​

ARRICK (2:00): I got involved, as many people in our organization got involved, through friends. It’s pretty invigorating that we’re a coalition of 100+ volunteers.

 

RAAGAS (2:15): And their mission hasn’t changed.

​

ARRICK (2:17): So actually, 100% of our donations go to our restaurant partners because we’re a totally volunteer organization, there’s zero administrative fees, you know we’re all doing this for free. So 100% of the donations go to the restaurant. Obviously to buy the food, to buy all the packaging materials, all the sanitary necessary ppe, etc. Health and safety is something of the utmost importance to us so we need to make sure the restaurants are stocked with gloves and masks. But we also partner with restaurants who insure that at least 50% of the donations we give them go to the economic relief goes to economic relief for their restaurant workers and the restaurant staff.

 

RAAGAS (3:08): One of the many hospitals that Off Their Plate is serving in the area is the Cambridge Health Alliance, a safety net medical service that primarily serves people without sufficient insurance or any insurance at all, including undocumented Immigrants. Mary Cassesso, the chief community officer, wanted to thank them. 

​

MARY CASSESSO (3:23): If there’s a way to thank people for what they’ve done, for their commitment to us, for their commitment to people that need their help and that’s what Off Their Plate has figured out.

 

RAAGAS (3:35): There are many people that need aid at a time like this, and emergency medical workers definitely fit the bill.

​

CASSESSO (3:41): Off Their Plate, three times a week sends a significant, hundreds of meals, it started at Somerville hospital, Cambridge Hospital, and the Everett hospital and they’ve been doing this now for many many weeks. And the staff really appreciate it because people are moving around so fast, and working such long hours that no one is taking as good care of themselves as they should because they’re focused on caring for everyone else.

 

RAAGAS (4:11): There is no line drawn in the sand for who is, and isn’t getting access to these meals. 

 

CASSESSO (4:16): All our emergency departments, but all the front liners. But within the hospital, people are much more open to it takes everyone to do the work they’re doing. So people who work in the pathology lab that are critical in terms of test results and swabbing, people feel that it requires everyone to make this work, and Off Their Plate has been very generous and wanting it to be inclusive. Maintenance and custodial people, so I have to say, it’s not just the front liners and the toughest jobs with the most direct exposure, they’ve really been kind of generous to all of our community.

 

RAAGAS (5:05): Patients at hospitals remain fed by the nutrition and dietary departments at hospitals, and according to Cassesso, there is no fear of running out of food. The level of production has remained similar to normal as there are more patients, but no visitors and much less staff, for the hospital cafeterias to feed. Another integral part of Off Their Plate’s infrastructure is the delivery services. In Cambridge, one of their partnerships is with Central Square Florist to use their trucks and delivery staff to get the meals from the restaurants to the hospitals. Jackie Levine, a co-owner, said they needed the manpower.

​

JACKIE LEVINE (5:37): The restaurants just can’t do both, they can’t make the meals and deliver them because then they lose the manpower to keep cooking for the next day.

 

RAAGAS (5:45): While adding on that they need more people to make deliveries. 

 

LEVINE (5:48): I think they already need more delivery services personally. Because they’re like can you handle more deliveries they keep asking me. So I think they already need more help on the delivery side.

 

RAAGAS (6:01): Having delivered an estimated 4,000 meals last week, that number is expected to rise. Levine also mentioned the ease of a partnership between food delivery and flower delivery mentioning that there is no extra training needed for the drivers, as both flowers and food are perishable goods with contact needed to hospitals upon delivery. According to Chang, when there is food delivered, there is an understanding that the food will not be eaten immediately so each restaurant cooks food that can easily be stored. 

​

CHANG (6:27): Imagine the people receiving it, and maybe 20, 30, 40 people are in one ward and allocated one kitchenette area to be using. There might be only one microwave at best and you’re not going to create a bottleneck for everyone to eat at the same time. So thinking about what kinds of food we’re preparing, besides being delicious, nutritious. 50% grain, 20% veggies, sorry 30% veggies and 20% protein, you have to think about the packaging and logistics of that as well for people to receive it and for it to still be in a very good state to either rewarm of just eat like that.

 

RAAGAS (7:14): Off Their Plate gets specific with the logistics. They know exactly how many meals to bring, and according to Cassesso, they’re consistent with delivering them.

 

CASSESSO (7:22): There’s so much irregularity right now that it is very comforting to everyone knowing that three times a week Off Their Plate is going to do a drop off.

 

RAAGAS (7:35): This scale of food delivery is replicated in eight other cities across the country, and according to Arrick, that has to do with their documentation, and administrative assessments. 

​

ARRICK (7:45): I think one of the main things that Off Their Plate is quite unique for is our stringent documentation of processes, and trying to build a model that can really be replicated in scale. And that work is still going, we’re still assessing the cities and where the need is and making sure we still have a strong and viable team in order to support those cities.

 

RAAGAS (8:13): When asked if this level of production is sustainable for the indefinite future COVID-19 initiated, Arrick said

​

ARRICK (8:19): Our model is such that we’re being very calculative of our funds and making sure that we’re delineating funds per city to be able to sustain for the duration of the pandemic.”

 

RAAGAS (8:38): Despite businesses closing, and hospitals filling up, this volunteer organization has found a way to serve a new need in our communities. Cassesso said, 

​

CASSESSO (8:46): I believe we have a kinder and gentler commitment to one another and a true belief that we are in this together, and that we are here to help one another, so I’m hoping that continues.

​

(9:01) [Outro Music]