A Virginia teen is doing his part to make sure frontline health care workers are getting the meals they need to help them take care of themselves and others.
Arul Nigam, 17, of Tyson's Corner, Va., has had to make several adjustments since his school year ended abruptly in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic(新冠疫情）. "We didn't have any classes for like over a month and then after that there were a lot of technical difficulties. So I started to have a lot more free time," he tells Yahoo Life. "It was really saddening, but it was also something that really surprised me, that our health care workers are facing something like that," Nigam says. "So I wanted to see what I could do to help them because obviously, they're sacrificing so much and giving so much for all of us. "
In late March, the teen started fundraising efforts with the help of friends and family to help these health care workers receive much-needed meals. He also began doing research about what hospitals had the most amount of coronavirus cases, so he could prioritize those places first. He was also arranging for the orders to be fulfilled at local family-owned restaurants impacted by shutdown orders. So far, Nigam has delivered over 1,000 meals to 22 hospitals in 13 states, including New York, Massachusetts and Maryland.
Nigam's efforts have not only helped health care workers, but restaurants as well. With quarantine restrictions taking a toll on the food industry, places like Best Coast Burrito in Oakland, Calif., have lost business over the last few weeks. Best Coast's owner, Alvin Shen, tells Yahoo Life that being able to partner with Arul and others in efforts to feed those on the frontline has been a big help.
