Over €200,000 Raised! Feed The Heroes campaign gets an incredible response

A fundraising campaign to feed hospital staff, emergency workers and frontline staff has raised €200,000 in just three days.

Businessman Cian O’’Flaherty, one of the founders of the Feed The Heroes GoFundMe page, described the public response as ’’incredible’’, adding that donations "went bananas" once the campaign was picked up on social media.

Based in Blackrock in Dublin, Mr O’’Flaherty set the page up with Tad McAllister with the aim of paying for food deliveries to hospitals for frontline staff who are putting in extra hours during the coronavirus outbreak.

They were inspired by a social media post which showed a local business dropping food in to staff working in the Mater Hospital in Dublin.

"We’’re all sitting at home feeling helpless and, let’’s be honest, a little frightened," he said.

"We just wanted to feel like we were doing something useful."

He said the response has been "incredible", both in terms of the general public supporting the initiative - at the time of writing, €187,000 had been donated - and the people who are receiving the food donated.

"People are working triple, quadruple shifts," he said.

"They said it is giving them a big lift. That’’s all we can do."

There are plans underway to ensure the service can continue long-term, including in the potential case of restaurants being issued general closure orders by the government, similar to those issued to pubs.

Mr O’’Flaherty said they have consulted with people who own or have access to community kitchens, for instance.

He said the public has been keen to show support so they want to make sure it keeps going.

They have also been contacted by other local groups, including the Cork-based In For Lunch, who want to offer assistance to ensure healthcare and ambulance workers all over the country see the benefits of the fundraising.

Mr O’’Flaherty said he hopes to see more deliveries to hospitals around the country in the coming days, too, with staff working at Cork University Hospital posting on Twitter an image of food dropped in to them as a result of the campaign.

To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/f/feed-the-heroes

ARE YOU A FOOD OPERATOR? If you are a potential food supplier sign up to deliver to our hospitals here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_84SgDs1CRju-Ja7EsDIoNp_C5LALKcMwmD1WbhCOlYXHSQ/viewform