5 More Pieces Of Good News: March 25
The news isn't all dumpster fires and viruses. From billionaires to average Joes, good people in Cleveland are working to make things better. We celebrate them in this weekly article.
While restaurants have been barred from operating as normal, they've stepped up to feed those in need during these tough times. Until closing this week, Herb 'N' Twine gave out as many as 80 bagged lunches a day, while Banter has been offering boxed lunches every Monday. Brimfield Bread Oven in the Kent area launched a free bread and other food shelf, and Summer House Cleveland, which opened in Lakewood just weeks before this crisis hit, turned itself into a food pantry offering free meals for those in the service industry. All the more reason to support local.
Browns Score Major Brownie Points
Cleveland Browns and Columbus Crew owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam's Haslam 3 Foundation pledged $1 million to the Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund and $500,000 to the Columbus Foundation's Emergency Response Fund. Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield pledged to match all donations to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank up to $50,000 and contributed 8,000 meals to St. Augustine Hunger Center in Cleveland and 3,500 meals to Meals on Wheels in Norman, Oklahoma.
Local Photographer Donates Meals To Nurses
While we love to see billionaires pledge big money, local photographer Karin McKenna, whose work you can see in the pages of Cleveland Magazine as well as other publications, proved everyone can find a way to pitch in. McKenna donated more than 30 boxed lunches to nurses working on the front lines of Cleveland's VA hospital.
Cleveland Florist's Public Installations Inspire Hope
Andrew Poulson of Andrew Thomas Design has installed three floral arrangements on the Cleveland and Metroparks signs in Tremont and at Edgewater Beach Park. Using leftover event flowers, the event florist encouraged visitors to take flowers home in an effort to brighten up these dark times.
Lakewood Distillery Transitions From Spirits To Sanitizers
Western Reserve Distillery, located under the same roof as Distill Table, has shifted its operation to making hand sanitizers, which contain only about 20% more alcohol than your average vodka bottle. Accredited and in compliance with the World Health Organization's recipe for hand sanitizer, the company has already taken pre-orders from hospitals, nursing homes and other health care locations and will begin delivering bottles in a socially distant fashion on April 3. Meanwhile, Gervasi Vineyards' The Still House announced today that is gearing up to also make sanitizer.
