Soup’s on: Church delivers meals to Arlington hospital as COVID response continues
Hundreds of medical professionals in Arlington received home-cooked lunches Friday as part of a north Texas church’s effort to thank those devoting long hours and intensive care to coronavirus patients.
Employees with Potter’s House of Dallas unloaded 500 boxes filled with baked chicken, green beans and corn to Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital at 800 Randol Mill Road. Hospital administrators thanked staff as they carted away the 18 boxes prepared by a team of chefs and other churchgoers.
The delivery marks the church’s second stop at the hospital.
“It’s faith, it’s science coming together and we’ve got to keep them nourished,” said Frank Dyer, Potter’s House chief operating officer.
Blake Kretz, hospital president, said deliveries from Potter’s House and various community organizations go a long way as his employees enter month five of pandemic response.
“Food like this really does lift the spirits of the employees and shows that the community’s really behind them,” he said. “I think that really does mean a lot to them.”
Arlington has had 5,263 positive cases of coronavirus and 61 deaths since the pandemic began, according to county data. In all, Tarrant County has recorded 28,410 positive cases and 381 deaths.
Arlington Memorial’s lunch delivery accounts for a fraction of hot meals Potter’s House has delivered to hospitals across the Metroplex. The church, with some 50,000 members and multiple locations across the country, has repurposed its community events spaces and kitchen for pandemic outreach efforts.
Scott Silva, a special events conference coordinator for Potter’s House, said the church started calling hospitals to see if they could deliver meals. At first, he and his coworkers were not sure how agencies would respond.
“We just felt like the least we could do was go ahead and feed the people that are working all these hours,” he said.
But hospitals began calling back, he said, and asking if the church planned to make more deliveries. Since then, Potter’s House has delivered more than 20,000 meals to medical employees, law enforcement and elderly residents.
The non-denominational church now works through a running list of hospitals that expressed interest in the meals. Silva said the deliveries have helped hospital staff as well as church staff looking for a chance to help — and a chance to leave the house.
“It has definitely helped me to get through” the pandemic, he said, “and being able to see the impact in the other people just makes it a whole lot easier for the rest of us,” he said.
As Kretz and hospital administrators wheeled in the 18 boxes full of home-cooked meals, he thanked church staff. He said the 1,500 staff receive meals from the community on a rotating basis so that every employee gets a chance to eat.
“Their food is great, and the staff just really appreciate it,” he said.
