McGill students raise $30,000 and volunteer to deliver "merci meals" for hospital staff

A group of third-year medical students at McGill University founded MerciMeals MTL to deliver meals to busy hospital staff.

Inspired by the generosity of local restaurants who have donated meals to health care workers, the students' campaign actually emphasizes supporting these restaurants financially. "When we put in an order for 150 meals, that restaurant can bring in maybe three employees that they previously had to lay off," said co-founder Melissa Vitagliano in an interview with CBC Radio host Piya Chattopadhyay.

Now a group of several volunteers, the students have made repeat deliveries to St. Mary's Hospital, Montreal General Hospital, Hôpital de LaSalle, Jewish General Hospital, and others in the Montreal area, averaging dozens of deliveries per day.

"We're supplying everybody from doctors to admin to janitors to secretaries to nurses. So we try to incorporate the whole health care team," said Vitagliano. She told CBC's The Current that the deliveries lift spirits and make hospital staff feel appreciated by their community.

Source: CBC Radio