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'It Brings Back The Reason Why We Do This': Nonprofit Helps Struggling Restaurants Feed Workers On Front Lines Of COVID-19 Pandemic

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- At its kitchen in Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood, Chuck's Trading Post and its employees are busy preparing sandwiches from the lunch menu.

While restaurants like Chuck's Trading Post have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, a nonprofit organization is helping restaurants while also showing thanks to the frontline workers battling COVID-19.

The meals the staff are whipping up are being packaged and boxed before being taken to MedStar Harbor Hospital. The healthcare workers won't pay a dime thanks to Frontline Foods.

"People are doing crazy hours. They're dealing with an unimaginable amount of daily loss in their daily lives and their career, so just to do anything, just to provide a fresh, healthy meal at the end of a 16-hour shift just sounds amazing," Frontline Foods organizer Tammy Tran said.

The nonprofit operates in more than 50 cities nationwide. Since April, it has raised more than $60,000 in Baltimore alone, money it has then used to buy 2,500 restaurant meals for exhausted frontline workers.

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Donating is simple: people give Frontline Foods money, the money is used to order restaurant food, then the restaurants deliver the food.

Tracey Sangria, the chef and owner of Chuck's Trading Post, said the nonprofit has not only allowed her to keep her staff on the payroll but has also made her work meaningful again.

READ MORE: Coronavirus Impact: Restaurants Continue To Rely On Carryout Service To Stay In Business

"There's not a lot of things we do anymore now that we're carryout only where we have interactions with our customers and that can really take the soul out of a business," she said. "... We drop (the meals) off at the hospital; the staff is there to welcome us and thank us and sometimes they'll send us messages on Instagram and it brings back the reason why we do this."

It costs $15 to buy a meal for a frontline worker. To learn more and to donate, click here.

For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.

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