Hungry to Help

November 16th, 2012 by Patty

For a Monday morning, I had never been more excited to get to the office than on November 5th. TheLadders had been closed for nine days without electricity because of the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and our 150 employees had been working remotely – from home, friends’ homes, Starbucks and libraries. Although our office finally had electricity, phone and Internet restored, we sat at our computers bundled up in coats, hats and scarves, still without heat. However, our inconvenience was minimal compared to the loss for so many others, and we were simply grateful that we all were safe and sound.

On that first day back at work, we received an encouraging email from our COO and Co-founder, Alex Douzet:

We will be catering lunch every day until Thanksgiving so that you do not have to run outside in the cold. Here is our tentative menu for the next 13 days:                          

Besides the obvious convenience and cost savings, I discovered that it was also a phenomenal opportunity to patronize Hudson Square’s restaurants, many of which were crippled by Sandy. The response of gratitude has been overwhelming:

From Liz Neumark, CEO of Great Performances, which owns Mae Mae Café:

I salute you on your efforts…we would love nothing more than to provide nurturing and delicious meals for your colleagues.

From Phil Mouquinho, Chef and owner of PJ Charlton:

Thank you so much. I must say that in my 32 years here at PJ Charlton I never completed a lunch deal for 110 people so quickly and so effortlessly. Kudos and many thanks to your organization. Now let me show you on Friday how to bring a smile to 110 hungry folks.

Page 1 of 2 | Next page

Posted in Giving Back | 2 comments

Previous post:
Next post: