Image via @animaditalia on Instagram
A local Italian restaurant has raised more than £3,000 in funds to donate food to key NHS workers amid the Covid-19 outbreak in London, as of this morning.
Anima D’Italia, a family-run business of 10 employees in Stepney Green, is distributing more than 660 pizzas to several hospitals in London this month after their campaign to help NHS workers gained popularity on Twitter. The ‘Help Our Heroes’ campaign - which was set up on March 22nd on GoFundMe - urges supporters to donate £10 to provide one pizza to frontline workers at hospitals, with the restaurant promising to donate an additional pizza for every £10 donated.
Workers at the restaurant are aiming to distribute 50 pizzas to one major London hospital every day, over the next few weeks. Some hospitals that have already received their pizzas are Royal London Hospital, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and Newham Hospital, to name a few.
The campaign was set up by restaurant owner, Sakib Ahmed, in response to a photo of a nurse standing in an empty supermarket aisle after her shift, which went viral on social media. “In unprecedented events, we all have a responsibility to do our bit,” says Sakib Ahmed, praising the work of frontline staff. “We want to make sure they’re appreciated, to know that we care, and to do whatever we can to uplift their spirit.” He set up the campaign along with a team of friends to help NHS staff and make “food one less thing to worry about on their shifts,” he says.
NHS workers around the country took to social media last month to voice their concerns as the increased stockpiling of other shoppers in response to the coronavirus pandemic left supermarket aisles empty, and some key workers without food.
In response, Anima D’Italia managed to raise over £1,000 in donations within the first 24 hours of setting up their campaign. Since this time, they have received donations from 175 donors, with this number increasing every day.
“It’s important to show NHS workers that we are grateful for their work,” says Nadia Chowdhury, a donator and medical student studying at university. “It’s a small gesture that boosts morale and gives them the motivation they desperately need right now,” she says.
Many similar initiatives are being set up to praise the NHS workers for their hard work, such as the ‘Clap for our Carers’ campaign on March 26th, which saw the nation come together to applaud the NHS from their doorsteps.
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