Nearly 6,000 meals donated to staff at Northwest Community Hospital

Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights is counting the ways the community has shown its generosity to doctors, nurses and other staff who are responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

In fact, the hospital has tallied at least 5,945 such ways local eateries have reached the hearts of these front-line workers - through their stomachs.

That's the number of individual meals that have been donated to the hospital as of April 30, with more donations still coming in, hospital officials say.

The food has included more than 500 barbecue meals from BBQ'd Productions in Lake Zurich, 600 sub sandwiches from Jersey Mike's on Higgins Road in Schaumburg, 140 Thai lunches from Siri Thai in Palatine, and 150 mini Bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes in Mount Prospect.

That doesn't include several thousand more extras like bagels, doughnuts, muffins, pastries, Girl Scout Cookies, prepackaged snacks, energy smoothies and water bottles dropped off by local business owners and community members.

In total, the hospital has received donations from 63 organizations and 39 individuals and families. And the food has been enjoyed by employees in several departments, from the emergency room to the intensive care unit.

Hospital spokeswoman Amy Jo Steinbruecker says the staff has been so overwhelmed by the generosity that they've designated one person just to handle the process of receiving and distributing food to all shifts.

Steinbruecker said employees appreciate the donations from the community, which has "rallied to keep our spirits high and bodies nourished during this stressful time."

Restaurant owners who would like to schedule a meal or packaged food donation can call Northwest Community at (847) 618-4483 or email givecovid19@nch.org. For safety precautions, the hospital can only accept food prepared in a restaurant or commercial kitchen, and it must be individually packaged, as opposed to family style.