Beacon Hill at Eastgate Arranges Take-Out Meals for Employees and Provides Jobs for Unemployed Restaurant Workers
A “Double-Win” Strategy for Employees Who Get Meals-to-Go for Four — Monday through Friday — While a Restaurant Manager and Line Cook Get Extra Work
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – May 5, 2020 In this COVID-19 world we’re all living in, a lot is expected of those who care for an at-risk, vulnerable population such as those who live at Beacon Hill at Eastgate (Beacon Hill), a retirement community where independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing residents all live in two separate buildings on a common campus.
Beacon Hill CEO Jeff Huegli determined one way to lighten employees’ load was to provide them to-go meals to feed their families Monday through Friday. But he needed a part-time culinary staff to do that. Enter Nick Fisher and Nick Mulhall two unemployed restaurant workers who wanted to work, love preparing food, and taking care of people.
Check out the video from FOX channel 17.
Two unemployed cooks help workers who care for at risk residents
Huegli, concerned about his employees who “were pushed to the limits in a whole new way” with the extra care and precautions necessary to protect this at-risk population, wanted to help them by providing to-go meals for their families Monday through Friday. A serendipitous connection on LinkedIn between Fisher and Huegli provided the solution – Fisher and Mulhall would work third shift 8:00pm to 1:00am Sunday through Thursday preparing 400+ plus meals for the 100 direct-care employees at Beacon Hill.
Fisher and Mulhall, the two-man team, do it all –they plan the meals, order the food, prep and pack-up 100 to-go packages containing a meal for four, and then clean up. They love it. Fisher says “Everyone at Beacon Hill has been great – welcoming and supporting, making sure we have everything we need. It’s been a great learning and growing experience.” Mulhall agrees commenting that “it’s awesome to have such an impact on people’s lives – helping them and their families.” He recounted when an employee thanked him for that night’s meal saying, ”You’re feeding my kids.”
The two have a great time with it and have served comfort meals like a southwestern macaroni and cheese, plus a variety of stews. Currently they’re preparing meals from a “Flavors of the World” menu which features chicken tikka masala, a Peruvian chicken, tomato and carrot dish, Bolognese sauce with rigatoni, and Jamaican jerk chicken with dirty rice.
Huegli said “We feel we have to serve those who are serving us by caring for our residents. It’s a real joy to see how employees are responding to this new adventure that we’re on. Providing them with meals is the least we can do.”
For updated information on how Beacon Hill is working to protect its residents and employees from COVID-19, visit http://www.beaconhillgr.org/covid-19.
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