Food4Frontline: Soul Food Bistro serves up hundreds at UF HealthPublished: May 7, 2020, 11:05 pmSince launching Food4Frontline you've helped us serve up more than 2,560 meals with food served from 11 different restaurants.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Restaurants continue to deliver meals to frontline workers as part of the Food4Frontline campaign. At UF Health in Springfield, hundreds of healthcare workers and first responders were treated to dinner on Thursday night. Members of the Gamma Rho Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc. jumped at the chance to help those who are helping others. Soul Food Bistro’s food truck served up some of the dishes it is most well known for: turkey, pork chops, macaroni and cheese and green beans. Since launching Food4Frontline, viewers have helped News4Jax serve more than 2,560 meals with food served from 11 different restaurants.

ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Restaurants continue to deliver breakfast and lunch for frontline workers as part of the Food4Frontline campaign. At Orange Park Medical Center in Clay County, 250 nurses were treated to lunch on Thursday. “It’s been very nice having the community reach out and support us, and this being the beginning of Nurses Week, it’s the perfect time,” said Nicole Schillace, Nurse Manager Cardiovascular Services at Orange Park Medical Center. Small businesses, like our partner Mission BBQ, have benefitted, too. “We at Mission BBQ, we’re just here to serve the front line.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – To show support for frontline workers during the nationwide pandemic, Facebook has rolled out a “care” emoji. The emoji is a smiley face holding a huge heart. The emoji makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside! In Jacksonville, News4Jax wanted to show our appreciation for frontline workers by donating meals. We want to know, who do you care for?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Heather Perry’s job right now is making sure that front line workers are taken care of at UF Health Jacksonville, but she reminds us that it’s not just the doctors and nurses. “Our two-story sorority house is less than a mile away from (UF Health), so we serve the same community. We serve the same ZIP code, and we are a friend of UF Health and we wanted to be here to support (them)." RELATED: News4Jax announces Food4Frontline campaignThe Food4Frontline campaign is designed to give viewers a way to show their gratitude to those on the front lines through donations, and also gives a much-needed boost to hard-hit small businesses. “It helps with our workers too, so we’re able to put them back to work, so it’s a beautiful thing, and we couldn’t say no,” said Tripp Kearley vice president of operations for Legacy Restaurant Group.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside health care workers became the latest to benefit from the generosity of News4Jax viewers as part of our Food4Frontline initiative. Newk’s Eatery delivered club sandwich lunches to the grateful staff at the hospital Thursday. RELATED: Busy Memorial Hospital staff get meal from Bono’s | Baptist staff get meals from BiscottisJennifer Morton, vice president of nursing at Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside, said the staff at the hospital are the most caring and compassionate people you’ll meet. “Even though we may be isolated, we really do feel like we’re a part of the Jacksonville community right now.”RELATED: News4Jax announces Food4Frontline campaignThe Food4Frontline campaign is far from over. If you’re a restaurant owner/operator and would like to help us distribute meals, please fill out the form below.

This initiative collects donations and uses them to provide meals for front-line health care staff. RELATED: Busy Memorial Hospital staff get meal from Bono’sBarbara Bredehoeft, owner of Biscottis, and her team did just that when they provided 200 meals to the crews working at Baptist Medical Center downtown on Wednesday. Finding a way to help medical workers is a bonus. “This has been a lifeline for us,” she said, adding that the campaign has given her the opportunity to put employees to work serving medical workers. In the coming days, News4Jax will be visiting more and more hospitals with restaurants to deliver meals provided by your generosity.

WJXT Channel 4, The Local Station and News4Jax.com have launched Food4Frontline, a community-wide effort to help both frontline workers and local restaurants. To do this and also help local restaurants in the process is our way of living out our mission as Jacksonville’s only truly local television station in these unprecedented times.”The Food4Frontline effort will accomplish three things:1. Serve: We will then partner with local restaurants to order meals that will be distributed to those on the frontline. Our hope is this partnership will assist local restaurants and their staff. Meals for the frontline workers will be individually packaged.