More than £11,000 raised to provide kosher meals for Jewish NHS staff

Three members of Kinloss have raised more than £11,000 in under two weeks to provide kosher meals for Jewish NHS staff.

Danielle Glasser, Sally Moher and Josepha White have arranged for more than 200 nutritious meals for doctors, nurses and other frontline workers battling the pandemic.

They came up with the idea, Josepha said, when one of her friend’s son, who is a doctor at a Covid wards at the Royal Free, said “he wasn’t getting any kosher food, and everybody was donating, but it wasn’t under licence”.

“We said, well, why don’t we try and do something about it?”

After Josepha’s son Carl set a Kosher4NHS JustGiving page up, the three volunteers said it was “amazing” that nearly £12,000 had been given in just 10 days. More than 250 donors have so far contributed to the campaign.

Drawing on her 30-years experience in the catering industry, Josepha said: “We prepare and provide all the food, and between the three of us we get it packed and dispatch them out to whichever hospital they want, or we will deliver to people’s homes as well, and they can take it into the hospitals.”

“These kids are working flat out, and they can’t just take any food that’s available because it’s not under KLBD (kosher licence).”

“We’re also giving food to the wards as well so it’s not just kosher food going in there”, including danish pastries, cakes and sandwiches.

Among hospitals receiving food includes Barnet, Chase Farm, Royal Free, Watford and as far away as Stevenage. More than 200 meals have been distributed so far.

With deliveries primarily on Mondays and Tuesdays, the trio appealed for help from anyone who wanted to get involved, calling on Jewish frontline staff to reach out if they require a kosher meal.

“We need to get more doctors on board”, she said, explaining that food gets delivered to a member of staff at a particular hospital, before being distributed to those who request it.

“When you’ve got a dedicated doctor who will take responsibility for the food, and people know that doctor, it’s more direct, it’s more it’s more personalised”, she said.

The trio’s JustGiving page says they are “proud to support the NHS during these extraordinary times”, and that “Jewish hospital doctors, nurses and key-worker staff are working more and more hours under greater and greater stress and we want to provide them hot and wholesome, kosher-certified (KLBD) meals.

All meals, which include a main, two sides and a soup, cost around £7 to produce, and are sourced from Josepha White Catering at discounted NHS rates. They are made available to staff on-site.

Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence, senior rabbi at Kinloss said: “Josepha White, Sally Moher and Danielle Glasser have always led by example in chessed [kindness] within and beyond the community.

“With their families, they are caring, committed and consistent in encouraging and delivering to worthy causes.

“This campaign to help alleviate the pressures on our frontline healthcare workers is a wonderful way that we can all join the fight against Covid.  I know from our doctors how much they appreciate everything and anything that makes their lives easier and lifts their spirits in these toughest of times.”

• NHS staff interested in receiving a meal should email kosher4nhs@gmail.com
• You can support the fundraising drive here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/koshernhs