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RDS Pivots Operations to Help Feed Frontline Workers
QUEENS CHAMBER MEMBER NEWS FROM DELIVERING GOODS TO DELIVERING HOPE
A courier company has found a way to stimulate the local economy, keep restaurant workers employed, and feed frontline heroes, senior citizens and those in need. And it all began with a random act of kindness.
Since April 1, RDS Delivery in Long Island City has delivered over 137,000 meals to healthcare workers and those in need. It started with a call to Larry Zogby, the owner of RDS delivery, from Andy Duddleston, managing partner of The Little Beet in Manhattan.
The chain is a long-time client of RDS Delivery, which delivers products between their seven metro-area restaurants. Duddleston told Zogby he had an inventory of food he would not be able to serve because Meals ready to be delivered to frontline workers being picked up at Just Salad. he expected the governor to shut down the state, including restauMulligan, CEO of The Little Beet worked together for years, howorganization has sent over 92,000 rants. Brands said. ever during the COVID-19 crisis meals to hospital workers made by
He asked him to help him find Soon RDS was delivering over we have found that we can band restaurants that lease space from a way to get the food to those 25,000 meals a week, working with together to serve our city in new them. who needed it, and the economic other restaurants to not only hospital ways that are very meaningful. They turned to RDS to deliver slowdown meant RDS Delivery had staff, but also those who depend on “From taking donations to food those meals. excess capacity. soup kitchens and other communibanks when we closed restaurants “Every time we did one of those
“Andy called on us to move the ty-based organizations. to stepping up for daily deliveries deliveries, we would take photos excess food inventory to soup kitch“In the process, we’ve become to hospitals, frontline workers, and and post them on our social media,” ens and nonpart of a bigour cities most vulnerable and food said Zogby. “We shared these phoprofits,” said ger effort that challenged, Larry just says ‘yes’ and tos with Food First. They, in turn Zogby. “We not only feeds figures out how to make it happen,” shared them with their donors, resloved the idea people, but she continued. taurant owners and management of helping to also keeps Soon, Mulligan got a call from and posted them on their social put that food restaurants in Samantha Katz, CEO of Chefs media platforms. to good use business and With Spirits. Katz is also con“Those photos generated interinstead of it their workers nected to the World Kitchen, a est, and that interest spawned donagoing to waste e m p l o y e d , ” nonprofit started by celebrity chef tions,” he continued. “The more we or ending up in Zogby said. José Andrés to fight hunger in the did and the more we posted, the the garbage.” “I was truly face of tragedies. more steam the effort generated.
Then, one amazed and They asked Little Beet to prepare People were able to see where their of the restauRDS Delivery provides messenger, proud at how and deliver 7,000 meals per week donations were going, and they conrant’s patrons rush, same-day and next-day deliverwe all worked for World Kitchen, and Mulligan in tributed more.” raised $30,000 ies and scheduled delivery services. together durturn asked RDS to help them those RDS Delivery is currently delivto feed frontline workers, making it possible for Little They run dedicated routes as well as a Rent-a-Messenger program for special projects. Their warehousing capabilities include storage and retrieval, and they also provide ing this pandemic for the good of the whole. I am meals to frontline workers. “The next thing you know, we’re delivering 7,000 to 10,000 meals a week combined,” recalled Zogby. ering meals for Food First from Armani Ristourante, Avere, NY Vintners, Little Beet, Eat Real Tacos, Just Salads, Juice Press, Sushi Ito, Beet restauprofessional mailroom management. a firm believ“Everything aligned to make that Stout and 5 Guys to hospitals and rants to make Learn more at RDSDelivery.com. er that good initial act of kindness reverberate.” community-based organizations. a n y w h e r e things can The Little Beet’s landlord, SL “It’s bringing back hundreds of from 250 to always arise Green Realty Corporation, was also employees who depend on those 500 meals a day for hospital staff from a crisis.” looking for a way to support strugpaychecks to support their famiaround the city. “Larry and the entire RDS team gling restaurants. They donated lies,” said Zogby. “We’re hoping
“I have no idea how we’re going are amazing partners for The Little $1 million and formed a nonprofit to deliver all that food,” said Becky Beet,” added Mulligan. “We have called Food First. As of July 3, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
NONPROFIT NEWS COVID RELIEF EFFORT BECOMES NONPROFIT
It was very good. Now, it’s new and improved.
Queens Together, which was established in March 2020 to feed people facing hunger and health care workers who were treating COVID-19 patients in local hospitals, recently became a nonprofit membership organization for foodrelated businesses.
Based in Astoria but serving the entire borough, Queens Together will operate like a trade association, providing advocacy, education, savings, marketing, and income opportunities to members. Community service ─ most frequently feeding underserved populations ─ is also a mainstay of its mission.
Jonathan Forgash, a chef and business leader, will lead the new agency, while Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District executive director Jaime-Faye Bean will serve as the treasurer and government liaison officer.
Membership fees are $329 a year, and Forgash anticipates that Queens Together will grow into a large and diverse group, consisting of restaurant and café owners, specialty product makers, beverage vendors, and wholesalers.
Queens Together is already organizing webinars on such topics as compliance with COVID-19 guidelines and good business practices. Soon, Forgash and Bean plan to set up meetings with elected officials, government agency representatives, and civic leaders.
In the near future, they’ll organize flash sales, bulk-purchasing deals, gift card discounts, and event-planning offers, while also negotiating low-cost, high-quality contracts with providers of such services as hood cleaning, inspections, and wholesale products.
“The Queens Together Association is creating one strong voice to represent, empower, and support the diverse food industry of our amazing borough,” Forgash stated. “We’re going to deliver real dollars, real savings, and real promotions.”
At the height of the COVID-19 crisis this past spring, Queens Together worked with Acting Queens Borough President Sharon Lee, Queens Economic Development Corporation, and the Queens Night Market on “Fuel the Frontlines.”
The joint initiative raised money to hire local companies to prepare thousands of ready-to-go meals for health care professionals and others.
Before Queens Together, Forgash ran Star Struck Catering, a film and TV industry catering service, for more than 20 years.
In 2016, he co-founded the Queens Dinner Club, an informal group that gets together for periodic meals at different borough venues, with Joe DiStefano, a blogger and Queens Tourism Council’s official foodie, and long-time restaurant promoter Gabe Gross. He also organizes events, such as “Dining For Justice,” which raise money for social-justice causes.
Before joining Sunnyside Shines, Bean worked for such nonprofits as Weill Cornell Medicine, ASPCA, and ArteEast, which supports
BY SARA KREVOY
After remaining closed for more than four months amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Queens Botanical Garden is now welcoming Middle Eastern artists and collaboratives. She’s on Thalía Spanish Theatre’s board of directors and a member of the Moving of visitors to its grounds once again.
The 39-acre oasis celebrated a return to in-person operations on July 20, as New York City initiated Phase IV of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s reopening plan, which
the Moving Image’s Neighborhood Council.
QBG IS BACK IN FULL BLOOM
Learn more at queenstogether.org.
included low-risk outdoor venues such as botanical gardens and zoos. “It is such a relief and joy to be open again,” said executive direc
