News

Feeding Front-line Heroes

The hospitality industry has been one of the hardest-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many have had to adapt to takeaway menus after being closed for a period but that didn’t stop some from feeding those who work on the frontline. They include Chris and Davina Magowan from Wine and Brine restaurant in Moira and Kamal Molhotra from Kamal Mahal restaurant in Enniskillen.

We decided after 2 weeks of lockdown that it was alien to us to just go from 100 miles an hour every day and just stop” says Davina Magowan Front of House and Co-Owner at Wine and Brine.

We wanted to do something to help so initially we approached our suppliers and asked them to donate produce that we turned into nutritious meals for the frontline. Then donations from customers and local businesses started arriving despite us not asking and so we were able to keep going and pay our suppliers for their produce. We did it as a family with just Chris, myself and our 2 teenage daughters helping to pack.

Since we started doing takeaways 3 weeks ago, we have had to reduce what we donate from 160 meals a week to 50- 60 which get delivered on a Monday to Belfast City Hospital, Royal Victoria and Craigavon Area hospital.

The feedback and gratitude has been overwhelming and we did it as long as we could toour bit to brighten the days of the people who put themselves on the frontline for all of us

Kamal Molhotra from Kamal Mahal restaurant in Enniskillen has been sending takeaway lunches, dinners, curry powders and sauces and baskets of fruit to frontline staff since lockdown started, They include doctors, nurses at the Covid Ward,Accident and Emergency and Maternity Departments at the South Western Area Hospital in Enniskillen. He has also sent meals to the local PSNI and Ambulance Service.

“I just wanted to show our thanks to the people keep us safe. We are all in this together” said Kamal Molhotra.