Feed the front line gives healthcare workers free meals at restaurants

HOUSTON, TX (KTRK) -- Sarah Watson is a special education teacher at YES Prep who was looking for a way to help when the COVID-19 outbreak hit the Houston area.

She discovered a group in New Orleans who buys food from local restaurants and delivers those orders to hospital workers. And that's how Feed The Front Line Houston was born.

"I messaged this group," says Watson. "I talked to their founder about their strategy and implemented it here in Houston."

It began with Sarah creating a Venmo and GoFundMe for donations. She spent the first week by herself, delivering around 1,000 meals to various hospitals. Recently, she connected with other professionals in the area and Feed The Front Line Houston is up to 15 people trying to provide as many meals as possible.

"It is all funded by community members," she says.

As the group has grown, so has their reach. They have people doing this work in Dallas and Watson says they've received $100,000 in donations between the two cities.

"My first order was $40 at a kolache shop. And to know that we're placing orders of over $1,000 at each restaurant is so amazing."

Local restaurants the group has placed orders from include Three Brothers Bakery, Cantina Barba and The Breakfast Klub. And Watson knows this work is also helping her students, despite their absence from school.

"I think this work is tied to my students. They are at home right now, but they are learning more than ever on how to respond to crisis."

You can visit FTFL.org for more information on donations and the work the work they're doing throughout Houston and the State of Texas.