BALTIMORE — A catering business in Baltimore is using their cooking skills to give back in a huge way.
Mera Kitchen Collective, which is a business made up of refugees and immigrants, started a GoFundMe last month to raise money to help feed people in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To date, the business has raised more than $25,000, which has allowed them to cook and deliver meals to nearly 10,000 people.
“You never lose by being generous," said Co-Founder Aisha Al-Fadhala.
Emily Lerman, who is also the co-founder of Mera Kitchen Collective, says they also donated food for free to feed health care workers at area hospitals, including Johns Hopkins.
“I feel grateful that we have been able to say yes to every single person who’s asked for anything whether it's, hey can you check on this neighbor and leave a box of food at their door to hey i have an after school program, I’m really worried about the families can you make 150 meals for me to pickup," Lerman said. "We’ve been able to say yes to all those requests.”
The money donated to them is not only helping feed families and healthcare workers, but its also helping the chefs who are making the meals put food on their table by keeping them employed.
The business is also employing other restaurant workers who are currently out of a job.
“It’s a difficult reality to have to deal with so much uncertainty this has created for so many people," Lerman said.
The people at Mera Kitchen Collective are just happy they’re able to let people know they are not alone or forgotten during the pandemic.
“People come first and they will always come first," Al-Fadhala said.
Lerman says they continue to get a number of requests from people need food, but says the money is starting to run out.
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