NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Even a few hours after the lunch rush, the team at the Grilled Cheeserie was extremely busy Saturday afternoon. 75 orders were placed all under one name -- Kelsey Henry -- who brought with her a huge appetite.
Or at least, a ravenous desire to give back.
"I’m in a good position this year so I wanted to do something to give back more," said Henry.
She decided, no one could use a hot meal more than our front line healthcare workers. "I used to work in acute care, I understand what it’s like to get hot meals. So I just thought, we can send food," she said.
So she typed up a simple request on Facebook on Friday. "I just said I have this idea. I would love it if you would donate your coffee money for the week or the day -- $5, $10 whatever you can do," explained Henry.
But she got a lot more than just spare change. "Today we’re up to $1,505," she said.
It was enough money to require a small army of employees at the Grilled Cheeserie to carry the orders to her car and fill up her back hatch.
Once Kelsey, her husband and two young boys got to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, it took an almost equal number of nurses and assistants to take up all the meals to the ICU floor. In all, the Henry's fed 75 ICU doctors, nurses and assistants.
"It’s nice to just see their faces. I’m sure their emotionally drained and dealing with a lot so it’s cool to see these heroes first hand," said Henry, shortly after dropping off the meals.
Kelsey admits one meal is just a fraction of what we owe these heroes. "They don’t get holidays, they’re working endlessly, their short staffed, people are getting sick left and right, they’re going through emotional days, day after day," she said.
But the gesture itself, will hopefully nourish more than just their stomachs. "I just think if we can do something to brighten someone’s day -- I think it’s worth it," said Henry.
Kelsey is hoping to continue this food donation to hospital ICU staff through at least the end of December. She's already made plans to drop of fresh meals at Maury Regional Medical Center next weekend.
If you'd like to help the Henry family with their mission, you can donate on Kelsey's Venmo page at https://venmo.com/Kelsey-Henry-4.
Or you can inquire about other ways to help by visiting her business's Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/kelseyleighphoto/.
