Kelcy's joins Food for the Frontline

Food for the Frontline Kern County was inspired by an example set by the city of New Orleans in an effort to help overworked front-line emergency room workers impacted by COVID-19, and at the same time support local restaurant owners and employees. George Hay, marketing director for Jim Burke Ford Lincoln in Bakersfield and Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Kern County) have teamed up to form the Kern County version of the initiative. They began working with Kern Community Foundation to raise funds to supply quality meals prepared by local restaurants to the overworked hospital workers of Kern County.

At the beginning of April the group began raising money to provide quality meals for Kern County emergency room staff who are dealing with the pandemic. All meals would be prepared by local restaurants and paid for with local donations. Each meal costs $20 which is used to purchase the food and materials from the local restaurants.

Hay said he is building a list of restaurants and expects the number to grow. Kelcy's Restaurant in Tehachapi was the first in the area to sign up for the program and on Tuesday, April 21 they delivered 65 meals to the staff of Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley Hospital. Virginia and Bill Sheridan, owners of Kelcy's personally delivered 45 meals at noon and another 20 at dinner. Check Kelcy's Facebook page for photos of the meals being packaged for delivery.

In a recent press release, Frontline Kern County states, "the next 30 days will be difficult for communities large and small as they struggle to combat COVID-19. Whether you purchase one meal or 10, your effort will help us give back to the men and women on the frontline." Donations can be made online at the Kern Community Foundation Events Page http://www.kernfoundation.org/events/

Any Tehachapi restaurant or catering company interested in participating in the program should contact the group at [email protected].