Madison, WI: In light of COVID-19, we have been blown away by this community and the people who have stepped up to help. Seeing the sea of support, is both uplifting and encouraging and a reminder that we are all in this together. One example is the brand new Stay Home, Send Pizza initiative – started by a local mom, Maggie Musgrave.
We asked Maggie a few questions – like how many they have already served (in a short time!), what inspired her to start this and what the response from the community has been like thus far. Here is what Maggie had to say!:
“To date, we have served or are scheduled to serve 733 healthcare workers, and counting! We can about double that with the money we have right now. We have served them at the UW main hospital, the American Center, Meriter, the VA, two UW urgent cares, and one SSM urgent care.
My husband is an anesthesiologist at UW, and they are responsible for patients’ airways. So they are right up in patients faces, breathing in the same air. Two weeks ago, he started coming home and telling me how scary things were getting at the hospital, especially with regard to the rationing of personal protective equipment. Morale was (is) low. And I just felt that I had to do something to help them during this crazy, stressful time.
Pizza is a great unifier, in my opinion. Who doesn’t like pizza? (If you ask my daughter, she’d have it 7 days a week.) My plan was to just raise enough money to feed the airway team. At the same time, I wanted to support a local restaurant that may be taking a hit during the stay at home order. It would be a win-win.
But then, I found out that the much larger Madison community wanted to help, too. Now we’re able to feed so many more healthcare workers and lift spirits, even if just for a little while. The feedback I’ve gotten from healthcare workers is amazement that people in the community care so much about them, and gratitude for the support.
You can say it’s “just pizza,” but it’s a little bit more than that. It’s a tangible expression of gratitude from us to them. And it’s providing real support to a local business (they’ve been amazing partners, by the way).
Plus, hospital food is not the best. Eating some cheesy goodness does actually take the edge off during the middle of the day (or the middle of the night—we send pizza to the night shift, too).”
You can donate to this mission, by clicking here. Do you know of another mission or mom in our community who has been spreading joy and light during these unprecedented times? Please send us an email at [email protected].
Thanks so much for your work, Maggie!
