CALGARY -- Like many restaurants in Calgary, Angel’s Cafe was forced to close its doors last week due to the growing COVID-19 pandemic.
The closure came right after owner Cathy Jacobs received a large shipment of food and the thought of it going to waste prompted her to shift gears.
The popular pathway eatery is now churning out free meals for people forced into self-isolation.
The cafe has a small cadre of kitchen staff creating ready-to-eat meals to be delivered to people's doors, free of charge.
Jacobs announced the plan March 18 on the café's Facebook page with a post reading in part: “I have many perishable items that I will be cooking up for freezable meals for anyone in need. I will be at the cafe from 10-2 tomorrow (Thursday), not for visitors, but to receive freeze-able containers to store meals in. I would rather give the food away then see it go bad.”
The response was overwhelming, both from people wanting to help and those asking for help.
By the next day, Angel’s had sent out 30 deliveries of food to isolated Calgarians. By the weekend, the number grew to 250 a day, delivering as far away as Chestermere Lake.
Heritage Park and Gordon Foods have donated supplies like fresh fruits and vegetables to keep the service running.
Jacob says they are looking to bolster their supplies of things like dried pasta and rice, as well as individual packing containers for the meals so she can store prepared meals in the restaurant’s freezers.
Jacobs is targeting her deliveries to people most in need of the help like isolated seniors with no access to help, or people whose entire families are isolated, or those people forced into isolation but who do not have the social network to arrange for food deliveries.
Both donations and meal requests can be made between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. by calling Angel’s Cafe at 403-452-0164.
