Feeding 500 on the front lines

The Works Brick Oven Pizza restaurant in Loveland teamed with CinciFlag to feed the front line hospital workers at Bethesda North Tuesday, April 7

By: Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (April 8, 2020) – The Works mobile brick oven set up shop at Bethesda North Hospital on a mission to feed the front line hospital workers from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday, April 7.  

“Mission accomplished,” said Gordon after feeding 500 employees at the nearby hospital. “500 employees at Bethesda North took a quick break, grabbed lunch and smiled a little bit.”

 The Works Owner Scott Gordon credits Brynn Fossett and CinciFLAG for making it happen. CinciFLAG formed just over a week ago when Fossett, her sister Amy McDuffie and Lee Baumes, a friend who works in imaging at a hospital, decided to carry the FLAG2020 model to Cincinnati to help out the area coronavirus (COVID-19) front line hospital workers and restaurants. FLAG2020 was started in New Jersey for the purpose of safely feeding the hospital workers on the frontlines of defense against COVID-19.

“The original FLAG was started in Madison/Chatham, New Jersey by a lovely woman named Liz Bernich less than a month ago,” said Fossett. “Following her model, many local groups have formed across the country. FLAG2020.org will probably give you a total number.”

Fossett, who along with her sister works in real estate with Comey & Shepherd, explained these FLAG2020 groups are not chapters; it is not a 501-C3. They are simply groups of women who wanted to get things moving, had success, and spread across the country with other groups following the original model.

“This is a ‘let’s get things moving’ organization,” Fossett said. “Like my sister, who is one of the other founders here says, we are not a charity, we’re just doing charitable things.”

Fossett says they raise money and funnel all of that money directly into area restaurants – except any fees charged by “PayPal”, Venmo, or Facebook.

The goal is to keep area restaurants cash flowing and keep them afloat during this tough time and to support and feed hospital workers. One of their co-workers at Comey & Shepherd is also a COVID nurse.

“She is on the COVID floor at Christ Hospital,” said Fossett. “She is practically starving. She can’t leave the floor. You can’t take off all your gear and go down to the cafeteria.”

Not to mention the cafeteria is not open at night. They’ve reduced what goes in and out of the hospital. They’ve reduced what they’re supplying. They’re trying to keep the hospital with limited staff to limit exposure. Fossett called it a “nightmare all around” for the hospital employees.

“For anybody on the frontline, it is truly terrifying,” Fossett said.

CinciFlag connects the restaurants with the nearby hospitals and they deliver meals. They’re keeping it as safe as possible with food being delivered outside the hospital and then dispersed within the hospital based on how it is set up.

In just the first week for the group here in Cincinnati, they raised nearly $10,000. More than $8,000 of that was immediately paid out to area restaurants to help keep their cash flowing a little more than just carry out with dining rooms closed. They have already provided meals at Christ Hospital, U.C. Med Center, St. Elizabeth and connected with The Works from Loveland to provide meals at Bethesda North Hospital employees Tuesday.     

“The Works was great,” said Fossett. “He (Scott Gordon) said, ‘instead of just schlepping pizzas out there, let me take my portable brick oven over to B-North and I’ll make them on site. People can run them in and we’ll feed 500 COVID frontline workers.’ These are people who are taking their lives in their hands to keep us all safe.”

They kept the choices simple and made 500 individual size pizzas. Everybody received an individual sized box.

“Scott did a great job. He fed them one-by-one,” she said. “He seems like a really amazing guy. He’s community oriented. You can just tell he’s beloved by his customers and the community. While everybody we’ve worked with has been great, he really brought a whole new energy level to this. ”

Fossett said the employees at Bethesda North were very excited about The Works coming out. Several indicated it is a favorite dining place for them in Loveland. She noticed the high energy of Scott and The Works crew right away. She was struck by his genuine enthusiasm for helping others during this time.

“It’s an honor to be able to serve the staff that keeps us all safe during this unique fight,” said Gordon.

Fossett sees it as Win/Win for everyone.

“If you’re donating, you’re staying home, staying safe like you’re supposed to, but you’re still helping,” Fossett said. “If you are a restaurant, you’re helping, but you’re also keeping your business afloat, and for the hospitals, they’re getting fed and being loved. Everybody comes out of this happy!”

CinciFlag – The Front Line Appreciation Group of Greater Cincinnati needs your help feeding front line hospital workers in our area and helping restaurants stay afloat during COVID-19 closures. Every $6 buys a meal. Cinci Flag welcomes any donation from the smallest to the largest corporate sponsor dollars.

Click here to learn more, donate or share CinciFlag

Like, Follow, Share or Donate on the CinciFlag Facebook Page here

Click here to visit and support The Works Brick Oven Restaurant  

Contact Brynn Fosset directly by email at cinciflagBrynn@gmail.com