In the News: The Heart of Houston

As physical interaction is limited and days indoors are dragging, people are getting creative with group activities that are safe to engage in.

Usually, Chloe Dao spends her days making elegant clothing for Houstonians, even winning Season 2 of the hit show “Project Runway.” She posted on social media offering free masks, and the response was overwhelming.

Megan Eddings is a chemist by trade and, after being unable to get the workout stink out of her husband’s workout clothes, went to work creating a better, cleaner fabric for the company she launched in August 2019, Accel Lifestyle. In response to news of a mask shortage for healthcare workers she's put her entirely US-based supply chain to work to help local hospitals such as M.D Anderson, Texas Children's Hospital, Yale, Memorial Herman and Methodist. She currently has enough fabric to make 9,000 masks in Houston, and has access to enough fabric to make 90,000 utilizing the fabric that’s currently in her California factory. 

Houston Texans Senior Chair Janice McNair announced a donation of $500,000 to the Houston Food Bank and Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston Meals on Wheels on behalf of the McNair Family. 

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Houston Texans star JJ Watt and his wife Kealia Ohai have personally donated $350,000 to the Houston Food Bank. The donation will provide over one million meals for those in need during the coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak across the United States.

“We decided to open a pet pantry to help families needing assistance supplementing their pet’s food or supplies during this trying time,” Houston Humane Society Executive Director, Gary Poon, said in the release. “We are sincerely grateful for the partnership with Exclusive Furniture to reach people wanting to help across the Houston area.”

The Houston Rockets made the best of a bad situation by donating more than 600 pounds of produce to food rescue organization Second Servings of Houston.

Paloma Nails announced they will be giving back 15% of all gift card sales to their staff during this period of closure. Gift cards are valid at any location and do not expire. Please click here to purchase.

With regular season games being pushed back for at least two weeks, ballpark staff won't receive paychecks and could face an economic impact from the season being on hold.

Springer will donate $100,000 to the employees at Minute Maid Park. Bregman, meanwhile, announced that he has donated 1,000 quarantine food kits to the Houston Food Bank.The program helps provide students with meals to make up for the lack of access to free meals due to the shutdown of schools, and each kit will provide 28 free lunches per student.

BCK Management, the owners of Bosscat Kitchen & Libations and BCK, along with Construction Concepts will donate up to 500 meals for families and medical staff at Texas Children’s Hospital, MD Anderson, and cancer families quarantined at home through B.I.G. Love Cancer Care.

They will be donating one meal to B.I.G. Love Cancer Care for any order placed from Bosscat or BCK, no matter how big or small the order.

The Houston community has been incredible to BCN and MAD, and now the restaurants in return will be introducing a Curbside Community Kitchen to help those in the hospitality industry who have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and its aftermath.

From 5-7pm starting March 19th (and for the next two weeks), Chef Luis and staff will donate 200 complimentary, individual meals - first come first serve - to those who have been affected in the hospitality industry. The team will be handing out these meals curbside outside of MAD in River Oaks District. The cuisine will come with a Spanish twist, of course. They are meals that the staff at BCN and MAD are familiar with, as they are meals that the kitchen has been making for the staff lunch since the restaurants’ openings. These meals are a tradition amongst the team, and they now look forward to sharing these meals with the Houston community as well!

Second Servings expanded their "Dinner On Us" program to serve anyone in need.

“Serving Houston’s hospitality workers is what inspired the 'Dinner’s On Us' program,” Second Servings Founder Barbara Bronstein said. “However, we’re excited to expand the program to the entire community, thanks to the generous support we’ve received.”

Distribution for the public will begin at 10 a.m. April 23 at the LAM Parking Lot located at 702 Avenida De Las Americas. It will continue every Tuesday and Thursday while supplies last. Those picking up meals must remain in their cars.