You Donate, We Deliver
1387. Sarah Laster
Sarah Laster, Katie Icklow, Jackie Commissar and David Benveniste founded ‘You Donate, We Deliver’ - a network of 80 volunteer delivery drivers, 10 professional chefs, and hundreds of members of the community to feed over 2,100 NHS workers every day across London.
The initiative is led from their homes, with over £100,000 raised from public donations to help cover the costs of food. So far the team have seen over 79,000 hot meals distributed to hospitals and care homes in London and Hertfordshire, as well as more than 12,250 sandwiches prepared and provided for London and East and West Herts Ambulance crew, and 100 meals delivered every week to those who are homeless in the area.
In a personal letter to the team, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
“As we begin Volunteers’ Week, there has never been a more fitting moment for our nation to say thank you to all those whose selfless acts of kindness have fortified the resilience of our communities and inspired our country with hope in the midst of the most difficult times.
“Such stories of service to others inspire my belief that we will not only beat this virus together but emerge a stronger, more generous and more sharing society.
“So I am lost in admiration for the fantastic success of “You Donate, We Deliver.”
“Your network of chefs and delivery drivers are helping to sustain more than 2,100 of our wonderful NHS workers right across our capital city.”
Oliver Dowden, Culture Secretary and MP for Hertsmere, said:
“I was delighted to hear that Sarah and her team have won a Points of Light award for their amazing work setting up ‘You Donate, We Deliver’, which has delivered thousands of meals to NHS workers across Hertfordshire and London during this health crisis.
“Sarah and her team’s hard work setting this up, from her Radlett home in my constituency, and running 7 days a week from Katie’s home in Borehamwood, deserves widespread recognition and I join the Prime Minister in congratulating their inspirational work.”
Sarah, Katie, Jackie and David said:
“We started ‘You Donate, We Deliver’ as a way of helping a few family members and close friends working on the frontline in the NHS. Never did we intend to start anything on this scale or with this reach, either within the NHS, or within the community. The response and support that ‘You Donate, We Deliver’ has ignited and received is truly humbling and overwhelming, and we would like to use this opportunity not only to thank the Prime Minister for acknowledging our initiative with the Points of Light Award, but to also publicly thank each and every person who has committed their support and involvement to ‘You Donate, We Deliver’ over the past few months.”
Photo: (from l-r) Katie Icklow, Jackie Commissar, David Benveniste and Sarah Laster (credit: Jo Russell)