JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) - A Clark County restaurant is working hard to make sure hospital workers are given the thanks they deserve during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although it has been open for only three months, Parnelli’s Chicago Eatery already is making a big impact when it comes to helping those in the health care industry.
The restaurant is taking to-go orders and making dinner for more than 20 people at Clark Memorial Hospital in a mission to “Feed the Floor.”
“This would be a great thing for us to be able to do for the community, because so many people want to help at the hospital — they don’t know how. We know everything,” said Petri Marconi, who owns Parnelli’s.
That’s because Marconi and much of her staff have worked in the medical field. She is a former physician and surgeon at Clark Memorial.
“We know every department, we know people to contact, all of that, so we figured this was an easy way for us to be able to have the community help out,” said Marconi.
Since Tuesday, companies and private donors have stepped up to make sure the restaurant has enough money to make the food to feed the hospital workers. Wednesday it was for environmental staff who clean the hospital.
“Saying ‘Hey, can you go feed a floor at the hospital' seems like a very daunting task, but when you say ‘Hey, help us feed the floor’, it’s a big difference,” Marconi said.
Each meal consists of hot dogs, chips and cookies and is individually packaged to be as health conscious as possible.
Marconi believes she has a better understanding of the time, dedication and now struggle experienced by medical staff and restaurant workers. It’s a passion she and her employees share: a love for those on the pandemic front lines.
The former surgeon is still caring for others — just in a different way.
After all the staff at Clark memorial is fed, Parnelli’s will shift gears and move its services to Baptist Health Floyd and feed the staff there.
To make a donation, click here, select “order” then “Feed the Floor.”
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