THE BUSINESS OF COMPASSION

Compassion THE BUSINESS OF

IN THE FACE OF THE PANDEMIC, COLLIER COUNTY BUSINESSES RALLY TO FEED THE SOUL OF THE COMMUNITY

BY SETH SOFFIAN

An Arthrex employee installs and demonstrates a plexiglass protection shield.

hen COVID-19 swept into Southwest Florida, the Naples business community jumped into action. Local businesses and organizations stepped it up and stepped in to provide food, cash, and necessary supplies to hospitals and medical staff, W first responders, teachers, the unemployed, and the disenfranchised. “I don’t know that there are many other examples of such incredible community support around the country as provided by Naples,” says NCH Healthcare System Chief Development Officer Jim Mahon. “This was just a textbook example of coalescing together as a community when times get tough.” Following are a few heartwarming examples of organized compassion and outreach during a most difficult time.

Safety

Naples-headquartered Arthrex—a global leader in manufacturing orthopedic equipment and technology—produced and donated hundreds of pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as N95 masks, surgical gowns, and protective eyewear, to Southwest Florida hospitals in March and loaned medical-grade sterilization units. By late June, the company had donated more than 12,000 face shields and nearly 500 plexiglass hoods to protect medical staff while intubating intensive-care patients.

Locally and beyond, recipients of Arthrex’s generosity included health systems, surgery centers, doctors’ and dentists’ offices, assisted-living and long-term care facilities, schools, and first responders. “It’s been a total team effort to make this happen,” says Christopher Adams, Arthrex’s vice president of global medical education.

The Naples Players create masks for NCH staff.

Protection equipment came from another unexpected source. With fabric from the costume shop, staff and volunteers at The Naples Players produced 1,000 masks for NCH. Theater staff also built plexiglass intubation boxes. “As soon as we stopped performing, our immediate thought was not to furlough any staff and to make an impact on the community,” says The Naples Players CEO Bryce Alexander.

NABOR thanks law enforcement at Larry’s Lunchbox.

Three60 Market created and donated thousands of custom meals for residents in need.

Sustenance

Throughout Collier County, restaurants corralled their staffs to prepare warm meals and distributed restaurant gift cards. Rebecca Maddox, owner of Three60 Market and Celebration Park, launched the 50,000 Meals Fund to keep dozens of workers employed and thousands of people fed with healthy, customized meals. “I’ve never seen such hungry and desperate people,” she says. When restaurants shuttered, she picked up the phone seeking donations from regular customers to create the 50,000 Meals Fund, and the response was overwhelmingly generous. “They knew us, and knew we were trustworthy,” she says. The fund provided customized meal deliveries for an array of local organizations and marginalized groups, including the homeless, farmworkers, senior shut-ins, and Alzheimer’s patients. “I wanted to provide them with the same thing we eat and serve at Three60—something hot and healthy. I wanted to provide 20 minutes of joy,” Maddox says. Her team has distributed tens of thousands of meals and will continue to do so until the 50,000 Meals Fund runs dry. Maddox gets emotional talking about the positive response from food recipients and the smiles on her employees’ faces. “It’s been quite significant and lifechanging,” Maddox says.

Other entities also saw the need to give restaurants business while nourishing frontline workers. The Port Royal Homeowner's Association allocated a portion of its reserves—$200,000— to buy gift cards from 31 locally owned restaurants to give to every NCH employee, and 5,100 fire, police, and EMT personnel. “Our mission was to support our local restaurants who were struggling, and to show our gratitude to the first responders for working tirelessly to keep us safe always, but especially during this difficult time,” says Port Royal Homeowner's Association Executive Director Jenna Heiderman.

The association’s generosity inspired Dan Groom, owner of The Dock at Crayton Cove, to donate $7,000 in gift cards to medical workers and first responders. Patrons pitched in another $1,100. “Naples is such an amazing place to live, especially when you see how everybody rallies around each other,” he says.

Support

Food insecurity rose precipitously alongside unemployment, emerging as a top priority. Meals of Hope President/CEO Stephen Popper says the nonprofit organization—serving up to 11 food banks each week—saw demand double from up to 1,400 families each week prior to the pandemic to nearly 3,000 families. Meals of Hope normally spends about $100,000 annually to purchase food, but it spent more than $430,000 from March to mid-June. “It’s a very difficult situation,” Popper says.

Organizations like the Naples Area Board of Realtors (NABOR) were aware of the acute need. It redirected general operational funds to

purchase local farm crops that couldn’t be distributed. The fresh produce went to food banks including Meals of Hope, St. Matthew’s House, and Benison Center in Immokalee.

With 500 crates of corn to distribute, NABOR President Lauren Melo hauled 50 crates to Everglades City in her own truck. “People were in line down the street and around the corner,” she says. In addition, NABOR spent more than $12,000 on free restaurant meals for frontline workers, and individual members contributed another $6,000. “Once you start doing this—the gratitude you get and the people that you can impact—it feeds your soul,” says Melo.

Meals of Hope steps up to meet a surge in need for food assistance after the pandemic shutdown.

Naples Soap Company founder/ CEO Deanna Wallin spearheads the creation of comfort-care kits.

Supplies

Tough times present unique opportunities to be kind. Naples Soap Company delivered TLC in the form of comfort-care kits containing shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and sweet treats. They were donated to NCH medical staff, Village Oaks Elementary School in Immokalee, and The Shelter for Abused Women & Children. “Giving back is a part of our culture,” says Naples Soap Company Founder/CEO

Naples Soap Company donated comfort-care kits to NCH medical staff, elementary students in Immokalee, and The Shelter for Abused Women & Children.

Deanna Wallin.

Meanwhile, BELFOR Property Restoration in Bonita Springs donated baskets with craft activities and hand-written letters to assistedliving and memory-care facilities in Collier and Lee counties. BELFOR Sales and Marketing Manager Kim Wheeler says company employees worried that “seniors were being left out. They weren’t getting any visitors at all.”