Beyond the call of duty: flipdish’s spanish customer feeding frontline staff with pizza during pandemic

Conor McCarthy
Author Conor McCarthy
Blog
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With frontline health workers bravely risking their own lives every day to treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, the public have responded and shown their huge appreciation and support.

As the pandemic has taken its toll globally in recent weeks, healthcare staff and other key workers have been widely praised and lauded for their heroic work.

People all over the world have been showing their support for frontline staff. Organised displays of gratitude have generated huge reactions from the public and garnered loads of positive media attention.

In the UK, a weekly national clapping ritual has been taking place over the last number of weeks. The Clap For Our Carers event is designed to show the public’s appreciation for the great work being done by the National Health Service (NHS) and other vital workers throughout the outbreak.

On Thursday, March 26, people and politicians in Ireland also expressed solidarity with the country’s heroes. In parliament, members stood up for a minute and halted discussions of emergency measures to clap for medical staff and frontline workers. Meanwhile, the public turned out to echo this applause all over the country. There was also a huge reaction to this on social media.

Public displays of gratitude and admiration have also taken place in France, Spain and India, among other countries.

In the food and hospitality sector specifically, many businesses have started to help out by providing food for key workers. Indeed, the #foodforheroes campaign has gathered momentum on social media, highlighting these acts of generosity.

Flipdish customers are playing their part too. Some are going beyond the call of duty by taking on voluntary initiatives, lending a helping hand to medical and emergency staff. We’ve noticed some really heroic acts of generosity and kindness among our community, which we’re proud to highlight.


Madrid pizzeria owner steps up to help medical staff

One such notable example of generosity in action is Helbert Márquez Marcano, who is the owner of La Margariteña pizzeria in Madrid and is a Flipdish customer.

Helbert has felt a strong sense of duty to help frontline workers since the very beginning of the crisis. La Margariteña is a tasty pizza outlet in the Spanish capital, where the coronavirus has had a particularly harsh impact. Spain is one of the worst affected countries worldwide, suffering thousands of COVID-19 deaths. Madrid accounts for a large proportion of them.

As the crisis took hold in Madrid, Helbert decided to focus his efforts on helping medics by doing what he does best - making pizza! So he has been providing free pizza delivery for frontline medical workers as they treat patients day after day.

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La Margariteña owner Helbert Márquez Marcano serving up a fresh pizza

He has been collaborating in a project with the NGO Remar to deliver pizza to IFEMA, a major centre in Madrid which usually hosts large events and conferences. During the crisis, the centre has been rebuilt as a hospital to take care of thousands of sick people suffering with the virus, as there is not enough space in Madrid’s hospitals. That gives a sense of the scale of the pandemic in Spain.

Helbert has been working in a food truck to deliver pizza to nurses,medical staff, police officers and volunteers. As well as this, he is also delivering pizzas to nurses who work in one of the biggest hospitals in Madrid, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital.

So we wanted to showcase Helbert, La Margariteña and Remar for this wonderful project. They are making a significant contribution where it’s really needed during the crisis - and spreading some joy in the process! It’s a shining example of an ordinary small business playing their part to help out where they can.

At Flipdish, we’re proud to be associated with them. These acts of kindness strengthen our sense of community spirit during a very demanding and difficult time.

Check out the pictures below showing this great voluntary operation in action.

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