WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — One meal service in West Columbia is helping feed hundreds of healthcare professionals during the coronavirus pandemic.
Chef Greg Martin is the owner of Primal Gourmet Kitchen + Market in West Columbia. The business helps prepare healthy food with local and fresh foods. People are able to buy meal packs or items in bulk at the store.
They wanted to do something to help those who are working in hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Professionals that are dealing with the virus are really putting themselves in harm's way. They're overloaded in hospitals. They're dealing with more than many of them probably have ever had to deal with. We're just trying to find a way we can help them make their lives easier while they're helping us dealing with this problem," explained Martin.
Primal Gourmet Kitchen has been matching dollar for dollar on donations to fund meals that are being delivered twice a week to healthcare professionals in the area.
This includes Lexington Medical Center, Prisma Health, Providence, and the VA Hospital.
This past Friday, they were able to deliver almost 400 meals to those working in the healthcare field.
So far, the total number of meals they've been able to give out has been 2,350.
"Emotionally, they're invested in trying to take care of their patients and they're going to to give it their all. In the course of that ... Anything we can do to make their lives easier, I think, is really critical. We're more than pleased to do what we can."
The meals include different proteins, vegetables, salads, and vegan options.
The restaurant says you are able to donate by doing it at their story, over the phone, or sending money through Venmo. Their username on Venmo is @PrimalGourmet.
Another way they're trying to help the community is by providing home-delivery.
"With people not being able to dine in and a lot of people staying at home, that just sort of put us in a position to where we needed to come up with solutions where we could get more of what we do into people's homes directly," said Martin.
One area Primal Gourmet Kitchen wants to focus on is seniors in the community.
"I think right now it's critical because seniors especially are already sort of isolated and in a situation like this where no one is really able to come see them out of fear of potentially spreading the virus. They're really, truly isolated right now."
With seniors not being able to go out as much and go to the store to get the things they need, Primal Gourmet wanted to have the home-delivery option available to them so they can get the things they need.
"We're just trying to get that word out to say hey, we know this is a scary time for seniors and for families with small children, and we can bring you something that could make your life easier."
Primal Gourmet says they're thankful for all the donations they've received and they will continue to help feed healthcare professionals and match donations throughout the pandemic.
For more information on how you can order for home delivery, click here.