As the Coronavirus began to shutter the city, we began to retool the kitchen for the unexpected. Within days, we started to produce and deliver the first of 40,000 weekly meals for the Department for the Aging (DFTA) to housebound elderly no longer able to go to their local senior center for meals and company. In times of emergency, we are feeding the most vulnerable New Yorkers and keeping our family at work.

The term is “to pivot.”

In mid-March, the Mayor’s Office for Food Policy and Office of Emergency Management (OEM) reached out to the private sector for support in responding to the unprecedented demand for packaged meals.

Each day brings more messages of need in ways we never envisioned; we are hired to fulfill requests to send meals to heroic and overworked hospital staff, day care centers, beleaguered pantries and community centers serving communities facing unprecedented need.

In response to the staggering overload at our hospitals, Great Performances along with The Sylvia Center have created a meal program to provide fresh and healthy meals to healthcare workers.  Like all departments at these hospitals, the food service departments are overloaded and welcome organized donations of fresh and delicious meals.

We are all looking for ways to help our city fight back and be resilient.  Good food is our weapon in this fight which will fuel the nurses, doctors and critical staff. 

In our Bronx neighborhood, we are working with two local community groups to donate meals for families and seniors. In conjunction with State Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez of the 80th District, we are supporting food delivery efforts in three NYCHA community buildings. Additionally, we are committing 100 boxed meals daily to our South Bronx community partners led by York Studios.

We look forward to returning to our lives as caterers for galas and crowded celebrations one day. But we remain hospitality professionals regardless of the meal we are serving – leading with care and respect, knowing that every meal is meaningful, most especially now.

Yours in service,

The Great Performances Family