Local Residents and Businesses Lend a Hand During the COVID-19 Crisis

Photo Courtesy of Slay Displays.

From hand sanitizer to nonprofit grants, businesses and organizations are stepping up to serve the community.

Face Masks

Nelle Bush, Lindsay Gradel (owner of Narberth’s Sew Much Cooler), Paige Sullivan and Dina Previti of Wayne’s Christine Shirley Designs collectively sewed more than 3,000 masks, which they donated to healthcare professionals.

Face Shields

Using repurposed materials from her King of Prussia warehouse, Slay Displays’ Julie Kireeva fabricated 2,500 face shields and donated her inventory to doctors and nurses at 76 healthcare facilities.

Hand Sanitizer

Filling their bottles with hand sanitizer instead of the hard stuff, Elverson’s Revivalist Spirits, Phoenixville’s Bluebird Distilling and Norristown’s Five Saints Distilling repurposed their equipment, then donated thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer to hospitals and healthcare facilities.

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Hunger Relief

Kynetic CEO and Lower Merion Township resident Michael Rubin issued his All-In Challenge to pro athletes and A-list celebrities to raise over $50 million for Meals on Wheels, No Kid Hungry, America’s Food Fund, World Central Kitchen and Feeding America.

Meals (Group Effort)

A slew of Manayunk restaurants—including Bourbon Blue, Winnie’s, the Goat’s Beard and Manayunk Tavern—joined with Center City eateries, plus Wawa, Aversa PR and Events and Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, for the Hospital Heroes Food Drive, which donated thousands of meals to local healthcare facilities.

Photo Courtesy of HipCityVeg.

Meals (Individual)

From her Radnor and Center City restaurants, HipCityVeg owner Nicole Marquis and her team donated more than 2,500 meals to hospitals and 500 more to homeless and domestic violence shelters. Marquis was also a team leader in SavePhillyRestaurants, a coalition of 60-plus restaurateurs who joined forces to lobby local officials for relief support.

Nonprofit Grants

With the help of donors and partners, Delaware County Foundation raised more than $1 million and granted it to nonprofits in the education, job training, behavioral health, nutrition and economic stability sectors.

Small Business Grants

Chester County Commissioners created the Chester County Main Street Preservation Fund, a $5 million program that awards up to $25,000 to small businesses and agricultural enterprises impacted by the pandemic that didn’t receive state or federal financial support.

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Do you have a Community Hero you’d like to recognize in some way? Email senior editor Melissa Jacobs: mjacobs@mainlinetoday.com.

Main Line Today Restaurant Week runs October 13-26!