To feed the medical professionals on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, a Lawrenceville restaurant has reached a major milestone in its Feed Our Heroes Project.
Universal Joint was one of many eateries in Gwinnett County and around the state of Georgia that halted dine-in operations amid Gov. Brian Kemp's shelter-in-place order. However, while Kemp has allowed dine-in operations to resume under tight guidelines, Universal Joint announced it won't reopen for that.
It has, however, continued to provide meals to medical professionals.
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After spending the past several weeks donating meals to Northside Hospital Gwinnett, Universal Joint announced Wednesday it has delivered 1,500 meals.
"We just flew past 1500 meals delivered to our Heroes at Northside Hospital Gwinnett today!!" read a Facebook post. "Thank you goes out to everyone that has made this possible!! We are so very blessed to have such wonderful support from our community, family, friends, and our loyal UJ customers!! You guys are the best!!"
The owners accomplished the milestone in three weeks, 11Alive reported. The eatery did so by raising money before delivering the meals themselves.
“I just knew we had such a loyal customer base that they would help us make this successful,” owner Bruce Kennedy told the outlet.
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The donations have raised enough money to provide meals for medical staff through the end of next week.
While preparing and delivering meals, Universal Joint adheres to firm rules, as Kennedy explained.
“We bleach our bar where we prepare the food, and then we saran wrap it and get gloved up and masked on before touching the food,” he told 11Alive. “I deliver the meals in the back of my car and just pop the trunk so that the staff and I don't have to touch come into contact.”
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It's not only Universal Joint that is raising money for health care workers' meals. They've publicized efforts by Atlanta Fire United Youth Soccer Club, which is hosting a competition to collect donations for meals, and Mountain View Athletic Association Lacrosse, which donated refunded fees to the restaurants' project.
Yet while Universal Joint is making meals for medical workers, it's also feeding the public — and the full menu is available. Takeout and delivery services are offered and the restaurant has also temporarily added curbside service, according to a notice posted on the website.
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