ServeBetter is offering meals and groceries for restaurant workers

Back in April, at the outset of the pandemic, food distributor US Foods and the nonprofit Caring for Friends supplied prepared meals and groceries to idled restaurant workers.

The fourth such ServeBetter giveaway will be Jan. 30, and this time, they are expanding the outreach to include more immigrant workers and people of color, said Bob Reusch, a US Foods executive involved in the program.

This time, US Foods will supply 1,000 boxes, each containing 10 meal servings, that will be distributed at partner sites throughout the city, while Caring for Friends will pack 1,000 boxes of shelf-stable groceries. Every worker gets a box of 10 frozen meals and a grocery box.

Restaurant owners and general managers can use the link https://servebetteriv.eventbrite.com to register employees for the pickups, which will be noon to 2 p.m. Individual employees are asked not to register. Information will be kept confidential, Reusch said.

The ServeBetter event partners include Esperanza (for community restaurant outreach and meal distribution); Everybody Eats (recipes, contacts, volunteers, and host site); El Merkury and its owner, Sofia Deleon, (recipes, meal production assistance); and the Save Philly Restaurants Coalition, Drexel Food Core Lab, and the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Pickup sites are:

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