Community raises nearly $24,000 to feed health care workers while supporting Centre County restaurants

A local fundraising initiative is benefiting two worthy causes at once. The “Feeding Our Heroes & Supporting Local Restaurants” GoFundMe page started by longtime Centre County residents Karen Walker and Heddy Kervandjian was created only a week ago, but has already raised nearly $24,000 to feed health care workers at Mount Nittany Medical Center while simultaneously supporting locally owned and operated restaurants across the county.

Kervandjian originally came up with the idea for a GoFundMe page to support the two causes after seeing her sister running a similar initiative in Florida.

“She’s sending food to three hospitals in her local area. I’m so impressed with that, and I wanted to (start) that here,” Kervandjian said.

Looking for a partner to assist with the effort, Kervandjian recruited Walker to the cause.

“We put it together on the afternoon of April 2 and in eight days we’ve collected $23,000. It’s amazing.”

Donations from the GoFundMe page are provided to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where the head chef at the hospital, Craig Hamilton, coordinates food deliveries with a list of more than 30 local restaurants, assuring deliveries match the hospital’s needs on a given day or during a given shift, while meeting hospital safety guidelines for food deliveries. The goal is to keep front line health care workers fed and feeling supported by the community, while also providing financial support to local restaurants and their employees.

While the GoFundMe project still has a ways to go to reach its initial $30,000 goal (Kervandjian and Walker hint that a new, larger goal could be in the future), the project is already benefiting health care workers and restaurants, with food deliveries starting this week.

“We provided a meal from D.P. Dough a few days ago. The Original Brothers Pizza is about to do another meal, I think Saturday and Monday,” Walker said. “(Hamilton is) already also close to setting up deliveries with State Burger in Bellefonte, ReFarm Cafe and Kelly’s Steak & Seafood ...”

While some restaurants reached out to Walker and Kervandjian to participate in the project, others were chosen specifically by the two.

“We were thinking of restaurants we know that have tried to do good and restaurants we know that might be struggling that are local,” Walker said.

“We were also wanting to include restaurants from the different geographical locations in Centre County, not just State College, because we did want to provide some kind of cash flow to some number of small businesses,” Kervandjian said.

Other local businesses have come on board, offering financial assistance to the project. Designer Studio in Centre Hall is offering a percentage of all sales from its doorstep deliveries to the initiative, while J. Stephens Salon & Spa is donating 10% of sales through the month of April.

Kervandjian and Walker intend to keep the project going “until the end of May or until we run out of money,” Kervandjian said. If enough funds are available, they’ll also extend the project to provide additional meals to first responders, including ambulance services, fire departments and police departments.

“We have donations from $5 to $1,000 and we’re happily accepting all of it. People give as much as they can and it’s wonderful to see that,” Kervandjian said.

In addition to accepting donations on the GoFundMe page, donations are also accepted via check, which can be mailed to PO Box 396, Lemont, PA 16851. Checks can be made out to either Kervandjian or Walker. The funds are added to the GoFundMe page, with credit given to the donor unless anonymity is requested.

“For me, this just seems like a no-brainer, a way to help two groups at once, to show support to health care workers and to show support to our local restaurants that are hurting. For me, this was an easy way for people to help,” Walker said.

For Kervandjian, it’s an opportunity to “replace fear with action” during uncertain times.

“When we do good and we take action, we make a difference and together we overcome,” she said. “Everyone can do something, either in donating money or checking on a friend. Action conquers fear and we’ll overcome.”