Hunger Free Oklahoma is trying to make sure as many people as possible are fed during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Through their new Tulsa Kitchens Unite program, local restaurants, caterers, even food trucks and their employees can get paid to prepare low-cost, heat-at-home dinners that will go to families in need.
The Community Food Bank will pick up the meals and take them to distribution sites where families can get them for free. Hunger Free Oklahoma Executive Director Chris Bernard said while kids are getting free meals through schools, their parents are not.
"They’re going to struggle to really deal with the challenge that we’re all dealing with if you’ve got kids at home all day. It’s exhausting and it’s tiring and the more we can support those families and make sure they have the nutrition they need to just function on a daily basis, I think the better off we are," Bernard said.
Chimera, Blue Dome Market, Lefty’s on Greenwood, and Catering by PARTYSERVE are the first partners in the program.
Tulsa Kitchens Unite has funding commitments from the Coretz Family Foundation, George Kaiser Family Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, The Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation, and Maxine & Jack Zarrow Family Foundation. Bernard said they want to serve 30,000 meals a week for 12 weeks and currently have funding for about eight weeks.
"We need more kitchens to hit our goal, and we also need more money to make it last throughout this thing, because I think we’re ll learning it’s going to go way longer than I think people initially thought," Bernard said.
Hunger Free Oklahoma will test out the program next week at Tulsa Public Schools meal sites. Businesses or volunteers looking to get involved can fill out an online form, and people wanting to support Tulsa Kitchens Unite can give money or buy a T-shirt, with all proceeds going toward the program.
