The Jamaican Spice restaurant in Morgantown, West Virginia, has joined with the area’s Salvation Army organization to provide weekly meals to the health care workers at Ruby Memorial Hospital. The Salvation Army serves the counties of Marion, Monongalia, and Preston/ The partnership began by providing 50 meals to the emergency department at Ruby Memorial, and the restaurant and charity organization hope to provide the donated meals to a different department in the hospital every Wednesday. In its second week of operation, the plan is to feed the staff of the cardiology department with 170 meals. According to Salvation Army Lieutenant Sheldon Greenland, the efforts of the restaurant staff are much appreciated as they are taking a risk when delivering the meals by being around people who have been impacted by the coronavirus. The number of patients continues to grow, he noted, and the donations from Jamaica Spice “make us feel real wonderful.” Greenland explained that the program began with a fundraiser planned together with Jamaica Spice that had to be postponed due to COVID-19. Rather than wait for conditions to change or for the virus to pass, the restaurant and Salvation Army decided to take the opportunity to work together to support the frontline health care workers who are treating COVID-19 patients. Upon receiving the meals, the emergency room staff at Ruby Memorial expressed their gratitude, saying they were very happy to receive the food. For its part, Jamaica Spice posted on social media that is was very “honored and humbled to be a part of this awesome collaboration” with the Salvation Army. According to satisfied diners on TripAdvisor, the restaurant’s dishes are described as authentic and delicious, with particular mention made of its curry chicken and jerk chicken offerings. Diners also gave positive reviews of its plantains and rice & peas. The restaurant was highly recommended. Its success with area diners is illustrated by the comments noting how busy Jamaican Spice gets around lunchtime.
Photo Source: Jamaican Spice Facebook Page
