WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the I Stand With Immigrants initiative announced a donation of $15,000 to Frontline Foods to contribute to their mission of providing food from local restaurants to frontline workers and impacted communities during crises like COVID-19. The donation is made as June marks the seventh annual Immigrant Heritage Month (IHM), an opportunity to celebrate immigrants and immigration, our heritage, and the countless contributions that immigrants have made and continue to make to our nation. Frontline Foods, in partnership with World Central Kitchen, has already delivered more than 500,000 meals in dozens of cities, supporting 1,200 local restaurants in communities across the country.
The donation will power more of those efforts – covering the cost of delivering 1,500 meals to frontline workers, and keeping four restaurant workers employed for a full month – and will focus particularly on lifting up immigrant-owned businesses that have been impacted by shelter-in-place orders nationwide. For IHM 2020, we’re taking care to lift up the contributions of immigrants of all backgrounds serving in essential frontline roles to combat this pandemic, and who have done so in times of crisis throughout our nation’s history. The I Stand With Immigrants initiative is also showing up more intentionally to stand with and listen to Black organizers, and to use our platforms to support, defend, and value Black lives and Black communities.
“We’re inspired by Frontline Foods’ incredible work to feed essential frontline workers across the country while lifting up local restaurants, and we’re grateful for their partnership this Immigrant Heritage Month,” said Jen Martin, Director of the I Stand With Immigrants initiative. “Right now, millions of individuals with immigrant backgrounds are working tirelessly to keep our communities healthy and safe. Now more than ever, we’re proud to celebrate immigrant-owned restaurants that are helping to keep our communities strong and spirits high.”
“This generous donation from the I Stand With Immigrants initiative will help some of our local immigrant-owned restaurant partners continue to support the communities they love by providing nutritious meals to those on the frontlines who are working day and night to keep us safe and serve impacted communities,” said Frontline Foods founding organizer Frank Barbieri. “Food not only nourishes our bodies, it has long been considered an expression of cultural identity. Our American culinary experience would not be as diverse and delicious as it is today without immigrants’ influence.”
The donation will support Frontline Foods’ vital work with immigrant-owned restaurants like Minneapolis’s Afro Deli, which has served meals to healthcare workers, and, most recently, volunteers cleaning and rebuilding neighborhoods that sustained damage in the days after George Floyd’s murder; Z Zoul Cafe, the only Sudanese restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has served healthcare workers, firefighters, EMTs, and others; and Chicago’s Carnitas Uruapan, which has prioritized meals for hospital staff in predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhoods. As part of the campaign, the I Stand With Immigrants initiative will share stories of these and other immigrant- and Black-owned Frontline Foods partner restaurants, and encourage people to support them and similar restaurants in their own neighborhoods.
Donations to support Frontline Foods’ ongoing efforts can be made here.
About Immigrant Heritage Month: Immigrant Heritage Month (IHM) is a nationwide celebration of immigration held every June, and is part of an ongoing effort to empower immigrants and allies to share stories and drive action that demonstrate how immigration is good for our communities, economy, and country. IHM also works to provide new avenues for individuals and organizations to support immigrants in their communities and workplaces during June and throughout the year. The I Stand With Immigrants Initiative is powered by FWD.us, whose statement on the killings of Black men and women across the country, and the movement to Defend Black Life, can be found here. To follow Immigrant Heritage Month follow the I Am An Immigrant Campaign on social media [IAAI Facebook, IAAI Instagram, IAAI Twitter]. For more information, visit https://www.iamanimmigrant.com/.
About Frontline Foods: Frontline Foods is a grassroots organization that takes action during crises to provide food from local restaurants to frontline workers and impacted communities. The program helps restaurants keep their kitchens open and workers employed to prepare meals, while showing frontline workers, responders, and impacted communities that we appreciate and support them. Frontline Foods started organically in multiple cities across the country in March 2020. Within weeks, it grew into a national movement, powered by a grassroots network of hundreds of volunteers and 16,000 donors across dozens of chapters (and growing). For more information on local chapters and how to donate, visit www.frontlinefoods.org. Frontline Foods is partnered with World Central Kitchen (WCK), a tax-exempt, registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization led by chef José Andrés. All donations made in connection with this project are tax-deductible.