Front Line Appreciation Group (FLAG) of Metro Detroit’s mission is to offer support and meals to the front line medical staff, to help restaurants stay in business and to provide a way for people to help without leaving their homes. Since April, the group of Birmingham and Bloomfield women has been collecting donations of any amount and then pools that money together to purchase meals from locally-owned restaurants that then deliver the meals to local hospitals treating patients with COVID-19.
“We are a group of friends who came together when we saw a need in the community, and we wanted to do our part to help support in a time of need,” Claire South explained. “We all work on coordinating deliveries, social media and fundraising.”
South said that April, May and June were a “whirlwind” as they were scheduling 3,000 to 5,000 meals a week. As of August though, FLAG raised $375,000, provided over 55,000 meals, worked with 104 local restaurants and served meals to 41 hospitals and 18 rehabilitation, skilled nursing and subacute centers.
“We are consistently coming up with new fundraising ideas,” Claire South said. “We hosted a virtual 5K and cooking classes, and we also partnered with local fitness studios. Additionally, we have been able to expand our reach to the rehabilitation centers and skilled nursing facilities since many Covid patients were released to these facilities, so as numbers decreased in the hospitals, we wanted to support these frontline workers, too.”
In addition to South, FLAG of Metro Detroit team members include Monica Toomey, Lauren Polina, Laura O'Brien, Saara Brinjikji, Lauren Edgell, Dani Gillman and Linda Scheidemantel. For more information, visit flagmetrodetroit.org.
“We have been extremely blessed with generous donations from our community, local churches and companies. We will continue to be here to support our front line heroes as long as the need continues."