Volunteers met at the Orinda Library parking lot to load meals into this 1971 Ford fire engine owned by Michael Karp of Fourth Bore Tap Room and Grill. Twenty-two different Orinda restaurants prepared a total of 1,000 meals that were transported to four hospitals over a two-day period to thank frontline hospital workers for all their efforts during this past year.
Emergency vehicles deliver patients to local hospitals all too often but a 1971 Ford fire engine unloaded a very different cargo on March 16. Owned by Michael Karp of Fourth Bore Tap Room and Grill, the fire truck carried 250 boxed meals from various Orinda restaurants, 250 gratitude cards colored by local school children and a floral arrangement from the Orinda Garden Club to Concord’s John Muir Medical Center.
Similar deliveries took place over a two-day period at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez and San Ramon Valley Medical Center. Deliveries were timed to take place at the end of hospital workers midday shifts.
A total of 1,000 boxed meals were delivered thanks to a $20K GoFundMe campaign organized by The Orinda Association along with community partners Lamorinda Sunrise Rotary, Orinda Community Foundation, Orinda Chamber of Commerce, Orinda Garden Club, Rotary Club of Orinda and the Lamorinda Arts Council.
The program paid homage to exhausted hospital workers who have spent a challenging year dealing with COVID-19. It also supported Orinda restaurants which have struggled to stay open and gave community members a way to get involved and make a difference.
K-12 students in Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga and San Ramon showed their appreciation by writing a message and coloring a gratitude card designed by Lamorinda Arts Council artist Tim Hancock.
“The Gratitude Card from the school children is needed just as much as the boxed meal,” said Lamorinda Arts Council member Elana O’Loskey.
