Lovin' Spoonfuls Response to COVID-19
March 11th, 2020
To our Lovin’ Spoonfuls community,
Greetings to you all, with sincere wishes for good health and optimism while we come together to navigate these challenging times. I’m reaching out to address Lovin’ Spoonfuls’ response to the COVID-19 health crisis. As a company we are adopting recommended safety protocols and procedures, and implementing them throughout the organization at every level.
Our end user is often disproportionately affected by crises of any kind, and we anticipate an extreme rise in demand for help. As long as city and state regulations allow for urgent response, we will stay in operation. Please know that these coming months will be critical to the survival and sustainability of businesses like us. We will be counting on the continued support, generosity and backing of our community.
One of our founding principles has always been safety. We’ve prioritized health as part of the bedrock of our mission, whether it be the health of our staff, our partners, our beneficiaries – and of course, the safety and health of the food that we recover and distribute. As health emerges during this crisis as the top priority, we remain committed to ensuring the health of the LS network, particularly our beneficiaries. I want you to know exactly what we’re doing, what we’re prepared to do, and how we’ll do it. Responsibility, practicality and safety frame our work everyday and will continue to. Here are some of the ways we are preparing to continue working:
Operations:
- Added safety precautions / protocols for our Food Rescue Coordinators
- Enhanced cleaning and sanitizing procedures for food recovery operations
- Modified delivery procedures ensuring that FRC’s and our partners observe the ‘social distancing’ recommendations
- Adaptive and flexible route coverage plans in the case of suspected or confirmed exposure or diagnosis resulting in quarantine
Office Staff:
We have full task-related coverage plans in place in the event of any suspected or confirmed exposure or diagnosis for any office staff, from our education staff through Senior Leadership. Lovin’ Spoonfuls does not have any office roles that cannot be executed remotely.
Chefs’ Table 2020:
Responsibility and safety are our absolute priorities, and with that we announce that Chefs’ Table 2020 will be postponed to a later date, to be determined. Lovin’ Spoonfuls is enormously grateful to our friends, restaurant and chef partners, our vendors, our donors and table buyers, our volunteers and all event stakeholders for their willingness and creativity that have been the driving forces behind this event. In this time of unpredictability we believe that this is the right course of action. By the end of this month, our goal is to be able to present a new date – please expect to hear from us with regards to that over the last week of March. The date will be influenced by public safety precautions and best practices for events and gatherings. We, along with you, are hopeful for a clearer understanding of the entire situation and outlook by then.
In the meantime, I ask you all to consider what this means to local businesses – this includes neighborhood restaurants, non-profit organizations and community focused small companies. Please continue to be generous if and where you can, and encourage your networks to do the same. We are committed to being a part of the solution, and are confident that our city, our state and our larger community will arrive at the other side of this.
Thank you all for your support, understanding and patience. We’re in this together.
Very Sincerely,
Ashley Stanley, Founder & Executive Director