Paying it Forward: Flagship Community Heroes

Despite everything that has been happening in the world over the last few months, many members of the Flagship Family have risen to the occasion to pay it forward and do what they can to help essential business workers or families in need. Across the country, we have seen some incredible acts of kindness from our team. Here are a few examples:

Chef Minoru M. (Sr. Pastry Chef, Fremont, CA) and his wife Yuko joined a project with her local hula group. Using fabric that was donated by the biggest hula group in San Francisco “Na Lei Hulu Ika Wekiu,” they handmade and donated over 300 beautiful masks to healthcare professionals at two large hospitals in the Bay Area.

Steven C. (Lead Line Cook, New York) has a family-owned food trailer, Smoke-N-Wheelz, that was scheduled to open in March. When the pandemic started, it pushed back their opening plans so instead they began using the food trailer to host ‘give-back events’ that provided food to over 120 essential workers in the surrounding area. This included health care providers and first responders who have put in tireless hours saving lives. Steven and his family are still hosting these events. All food purchases are out of their own pockets. They would like to continue supporting these amazing heroes through the pandemic. If you’d like to contribute to the cause, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family out with funding these efforts and to continue providing meals to frontline workers. For anyone able and interested in supporting this great cause, you can make a donation here.

For Lloyd B. (Lead Line Cook, Menlo Park, CA), the pandemic hit close to home, having several of his family and friends who work in the medical profession. Seeing the heroism from so many doctors, nurses and hospital workers, Lloyd and a small crew from his event company, Lloyd Eats World, rallied together to make custom care bags for over 85 healthcare providers at seven different medical locations. The care bags contained food, protective equipment and most importantly, a lot of love.

What each of these culinarians has expressed, is that it is their passion for food and serving others that has inspired them to give back and do something to help those in need. They are all a true testament to our Flagship values and our philosophy of creating community through great food and hospitality.