Cafe reaches out to healthcare groups in pandemic to do what it does best: feed people

In the face of all the hardships and anxiety caused by the pandemic, the Neighborhood Cafe is doing what it does best: feeding people. The cafe has been distributing sponsored meals of its food to healthcare workers around Lee’s Summit and beyond.

It started at the beginning of the pandemic when owner Tony Olson offered free meals to children.

“As we were having to change our business model, we just saw a lot of need,” Olson said. “It was really borne out of people wanting to help in any way they could.”

Local businesses, churches and individuals have donated the meals. The cafe has catered to many doctors’ offices and hospitals over the years, so Olson knew where to go to offer meals.

They offer a range of sandwiches, wraps and salads to the workers and consult with the hospitals to ensure they make allowances for dietary restrictions.

The cafe has delivered meals to Saint Luke’s East Hospital, Research Medical Center, Lee’s Summit Medical Center and many others.

Susie Krug, chief nursing officer at Saint Luke’s East, said the meals from the Neighborhood Cafe and other local restaurants have been a real morale-booster for the staff.

“You know like Santa giving gifts to excited children? Honestly, it was like, ‘Here’s a sandwich for you, and some lunch for you,’” Krug said.

The cafe delivered meals at different times for both the day and night shifts.

“I think night shift oftentimes feels like they miss out on all the good stuff,” Krug said.

“The thoughtfulness that the night shift was included in the donation was really genuinely heartfelt. They don’t have everything open. They don’t have the option to run to the cafeteria or pick up a snack in the gift shop.”

Krug said the cafe’s meals served around 600 people at Saint Luke’s East.

Between the meals for healthcare workers and the those for children, Olson estimated about 100 different organizations have contributed to the meal effort. Many businesses each donated between $500 and $1,000.

“We had some really big, awesome donations,” Olson said.

He thinks he’s served around 10,000 meals this way over the last few months.

“It’s been humbling and just amazing. We’re always looking for bright spots right now. The response and the giving spirit is overwhelming. We try to pass that along,” Olson said.

At the start, the meal delivery was a little more intense than it is now.

“Some days we had three or four a day every day of the week,” Olson said.

“Now, it’s a few a week. It comes in waves. We’re not the only ones; we didn’t create this. Other people are doing it as well. It’s nice to see people stepping up and helping frontline workers.”

He loves to see people’s reactions to the meals.

“On the front line side, a lot of them have been overwhelmed. They’re elated. We’ve been so blessed to be in the middle of that and see that.”