How to support Pierce County health care workers and restaurants? Buy them dinner

Their dining rooms empty, restaurants look to support the community while also keeping their doors open.

“Everybody wants a way to support a small business,” said Corie Cameron, the owner of Crisp Greens on Sixth Avenue in Tacoma. “They want to have the ability to help the health care workers and give back in some way that’s truly useful. It’s a win-win-win.”

Last Sunday, she posted on social media a simple message: “We are selling meal packages to be delivered for free around Tacoma. If you want a way to support local business as well as the front line — we got you covered!”

For $21, customers can purchase, through Crisp Greens website, three meals of soup, salads and grain bowls that Cameron and her husband Sean Guay would deliver to area hospitals.

By Monday, more than 200 meals had been purchased, with the first 40 delivered to MultiCare’s Tacoma General Hospital. On Tuesday, customers bought another 150 meals, while Cameron delivered more than 50 to MultiCare and CHI Franciscan’s St. Joseph Medical Center. By Thursday, the number of donated meals exceeded 500, and Crisp Greens was running double shifts to prep and pack them for more health care centers, including Tacoma Family Medicine and Allenmore Hospital.

“My goal was 1,000 meals,” Cameron told The News Tribune last week. “I think we’re going to surpass that week.”

She was right. The number neared 1,100 by Monday morning, displayed proudly on the shop’s front window.

It all started with a customer who asked if she could buy two extra meals for health care workers. Cameron sold her three for the price of two and posted the offer online to gauge interest.

Next thing she knew, her small shop — quiet these past couple of weeks as people stay at home, per the governor’s orders — was bustling, as she and her staff peeled, chopped and sauteed vegetables, braised chicken thighs and stirred soups, packing to-go boxes into bright green grocery bags.

They’re so busy that her mom flew in from New York to watch the couple’s four kids.

STAYING OPEN WHILE SUPPORTING

Mark Houser, the owner of the Taco del Mar in Tacoma’s Westgate neighborhood, also wanted to support those on the front line of the coronavirus epidemic. But how?

“I wish I could do something,” he recalled saying to his wife and mother-in-law, who were starting a mask-sewing project. He read about distilleries bottling hand sanitizer with their high-proof alcohol.

“I have food, I have knowledge and equipment and people I can’t use because we’re slow,” he said.

It helped that his wife worked in medicine. She connected him to the director of St. Joseph.

“He was more than excited and said it was more than needed,” Houser told The News Tribune in a phone call.

The hospital emailed him a list of questions confirming his business license, the type of food, the packaging, the handling. Tuesday, with the support of a local donor, Houser will deliver what he hopes is the first 100 of many burritos, plus chips and salsa, to St. Joseph — replete with a custom sticker made by his friend at Harbor Graphics, a print shop in Gig Harbor. (Crisp Greens also teamed up with a local artist, Mystic Graphics, to make custom stickers for the donated meals.)

“It sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t for the amount of nurses and doctors and people that are there. I can keep it up as long as I’m able to and as much as they want,” said Houser, who has owned and operated the Tacoma location of the regional Baja chain for 20 years.

Meanwhile, Bob’s Burgers in Puyallup, a Washington chain with 12 locations started by Bob Kildall, has donated 60 meals each to MultiCare Good Samaritan neighborhood ERs in Parkland and Bonney Lake, as well as Central Pierce Fire & Rescue. The restaurant covered the cost of the first batch and a local real estate agent the second.

“Everyone likes a good meal,” said general manager Curtis Richards. “People are freaking out about the news. Let’s help the community and bring a little light.”

The restaurant has since set up a PayPal page for the public to donate, too.

At Happy Teriyaki, which has locations in DuPont and Fife, owner Tim Bartz made his first donation of 30 meals to Tacoma General through a longtime friend who is a nurse.

“I saw how happy and appreciative they were, and they expressed nobody was really showing any love,” he told The News Tribune in an email. “It broke my heart hearing they weren’t being shown the appreciation and love they deserve for fighting this pandemic head-on.”

“My nurse friend posted about it and the post exploded,” he said, so he added it to the restaurant’s online menu the next day. “It immediately started to gain traction.”

Then, a retired emergency room doctor at St. Joseph called him to purchase 105 meals — “crying emoji!”

In just two days, more than 200 donations rolled in, and another crowdsourced nonprofit reached out to buy 50 or 60 meals.

IN NEED OF SOME LOVE (AND LUNCH)

As hospitals and health care facilities have tightened entrance protocols, workers might also be less inclined to leave the premises, making these efforts all the more welcome.

“They don’t have time to really go get food, and if they do, they have to go through certain steps if they’re leaving and coming back,” noted Houser at Taco del Mar. “They need something they can eat quickly.”

Cameron noticed a similar issue, including the fact that the cafeteria at Tacoma General closes at 2 p.m., so Crisp Greens delivers dinner, too. She is thankful for the community support not only of the meals but the networks that connected her to the right people during this busy and stressful time at hospitals.

At Bob’s Burgers, Richards agreed that it was “surprisingly difficult” to get the donation door open.

“It’s a tough line to balance there,” he said, wanting to support but not wanting to interfere.

All of these restaurants are posting photos to rally interest in the cause.

“They all look so happy — it’s contagious,” said Cameron, no pun intended. “We’re getting the sweetest messages and selfies with their salads. It’s perfect. It’s just growing and growing and growing.”

TO DONATE

▪ Crisp Greens (Tacoma): Donate online through crispmeals.co

▪ Taco del Mar (Tacoma): Call the restaurant for details at 253-761-7425

▪ Bob’s Burgers (Puyallup): Donate online through PayPal, or call the restaurant at 253-268-0496

▪ Happy Teriyaki (DuPont, Fife): Donate online through thehappyteriyaki.com.

This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 10:00 AM.