With cases of COVID-19 now exceeding one million globally, and as Toronto starts to feel the combined pressure of the pandemic and quarantined lives, one Toronto restaurant has launched a community-based program to help citizens be and feel proactive in helping those on the front lines.

This month, Cafe Landwer launched its Landwer Lunch program that aims to, with the help of community members, provide doctors, nurses, and all those fighting the virus on the front lines receive healthy lunches.

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LUNCH FOR MOUNT SINAI FRONT-LINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS . In appreciation of the healthcare staff working on the front-lines for all of us, Cafe Landwer would like you to join us on a mission to give back. We are partnering with Mount Sinai Hospital to have fresh, delicious Landwer lunches sent to on-duty healthcare workers, and you can join to make it happen! . We will match every donation, so that every $1=$2! Orders can be delivered in your name to the department of your choice, or to a department that needs it most. . Package 1: (Cost: $100, Value: $215) 5 Landwer's Famous Schnitzel and Rice, 5 Chicken Shawarma and Couscous, 2 Falafel Sandwiches . Package 2: (Cost $50, Value $108) 4 Landwer's Burgers with Truffle Fries, 1 Plant-Based Burger with Truffle Fries . Package 3: (Cost: $100, Value $204) 6 Sweet Potatoes & Chestnut Ravioli, 6 Mediterranean Salads . To donate, send us an email at info@landweravenue.ca with your contact information and we will call you to arrange the order. You can also call us directly at (416) 783-9365. Orders can be placed between 10AM-4PM for the following day ❤️☕️

A post shared by Cafe Landwer (@cafelandwer) on Mar 31, 2020 at 12:56pm PDT

“We just thought it would be a great way to give back to the community,” restaurant owner Eren Shram said. For every $1 that a person gives, Cafe Landwer pledges to match the dollar.

With the help of the community, the restaurant delivered 30 lunches to Mount Sinai Hospital yesterday and today, Shram says. “There’s 30 meals pledged for tomorrow,” he said.

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We are so happy to announce that we have delivered 30 meals today to @sinaihealthtoronto! 30 doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals had a delicious lunch today because of the generosity of our customers, and we can’t thank you enough! To sponsor tomorrow’s lunch for front-line healthcare workers at Mount Sinai Hospital please email info@landweravenue.ca or call (416) 783-9365 ❤️ 📸: @trishaloohoo

A post shared by Cafe Landwer (@cafelandwer) on Apr 1, 2020 at 10:26am PDT

Shram says that expanding delivery of lunches to more hospitals is in the works. Beginning next week, they will start taking lunches to Women’s College Hospital.

“If the community is going to keep cooperating with us as well as they have so far, we will keep going with this, as long as we can,” Shram said.

Cafe Landwer isn’t the only restaurant keeping healthcare professionals in mind. Last week, Terroni and General Assembly held a fundraiser to deliver pizza to healthcare professionals at St. Michael’s Hospital.

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We want to thank the amazing healthcare staff on the front line at St. Michael’s Hospital for their endless dedication and hard work to keep our city safe. A big thank you to our very own Laura Macdonald-Rumi (@lauramacrumi) for organizing this fundraiser and making sure that our healthcare superheroes are taken care of with the help of some Terroni and General Assembly (@ga_pizza) pizza.

A post shared by Terroni (@terroni.to) on Mar 28, 2020 at 12:57pm PDT

But Landwer Lunch is the first of its kind when it comes to a sustained commitment of provisions.

Customers are able to pledge not just to donate for a few days’ worth of lunches, but also to provide lunch for a specific department, doctor, or nurse of their choosing. “People are more than welcome to commit as much or as little as they want,” Shram said.

Shram and his team have already received much support and appreciation from the community. Shram is aware that many, while quarantined, are at a loss for how to show their gratitude for those fighting the good fight, and hopes that with Landwer Lunches he is able to get the community involved to do and be proactive.

“We have been getting so many comments, private messages, even phone calls from people” saying how much they appreciate this gesture, Shram says.

The photo the restaurant posted to its Instagram depicting Mount Sinai doctors and nurses enjoying their meals was an important aspect in this morale-building for the community.

“I think it’s really important for people to see the results, that they’re getting involved, and we’re all doing this together. And then to see the faces of the doctors, the nurses, the healthcare staff, it makes it so much more real,” he says.

The restaurant worked in concert with Mount Sinai to develop the safest means by which to get the lunches inside of the hospital, Shram says. When the food is taken to the hospital, it is met by one point of contact, who then transports the meals inside.

“Everyone is doing their part,” Shram says. “I’ve heard clothing manufacturers switching to making masks and donating them to hospitals. We are a restaurant, we can do food. If we can keep their [frontline workers’] tummies full, put smiles on their faces, that’s what we’re here for.”