Rosedon helps feed residents at nursing home
Staff at a Pembroke restaurant have turned its kitchen over to help elderly residents at a nursing home.
Rob Bruni, the manager of Huckleberry at the Rosedon Hotel, said staff had answered an urgent call for help after a string of Covid-19 cases among residents and staff were reported at the Matilda Smith Williams seniors’ home in Devonshire this month.
Mr Bruni added that the restaurant was told by the Third Sector Co-ordinated Crisis Response Effort — a collaboration among several charities — that because of staffing problems at the home, help was needed to provide meals.
Mr Bruni said: “Our chefs promptly responded and delivered breakfast early the next morning and have been preparing three meals a day all week.
“It has been an honour and privilege to work with the third sector co-ordinators and to be able to step in and alleviate the concerns with regard to food security for this vulnerable population”.
The Huckleberry closed on March 18 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but members of the hotel and restaurant team volunteered to stay on the hotel grounds and have observed the shelter-in-place rules.
A spokesman for the hotel said: “The intention of our early move was to ensure that staff stayed healthy and that we would be able to reliably provide food service under our kerbside pick-up initiative without any question as to whether our staff had been exposed to the virus.
“That effort was initially launched as Huckleberry@HOME focused on providing kerbside pick-up of individual and family style meals.”
He added that when the shelter-in-place order was announced, management contacted the Third Sector CCRE to offer to help meal preparation for frontline workers and those in need.
The spokesman added: “We urge everyone to follow the advice of the Bermuda Government and to adhere to the guidelines and measures being put in place to protect all of us and particularly the most vulnerable in our community.
“We further encourage everyone to consider what they can do to provide support to those most in need in the community.
“For those who want a seamless way to provide much needed funds for our most vulnerable populations during this time of crisis give to The Bermuda Emergency Fund.”
• To learn more about donating, visit bermudacommunity foundation.org