Aramark at ODU workers prepare meals for front line staff at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. They have also been providing daily meals for all of their employees and Norfolk Fire Station 7.
By Sherry DiBari
When the majority of Old Dominion University's campus dining halls and restaurants closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Aramark at ODU ensured its 620 employees were taken care of in a familiar way.
It cooked for them.
Aramark has provided meals for all of its employees and their families since March 26. The meals feed a family of four adults for a week.
Employees can pick up meals three times a week. Monday's and Wednesday's pickup covers two days of meals and Friday's pickup covers meals through the weekend.
Recent menus for the pre-cooked meals have included adobo chicken with bell peppers and onions over rice with soft flour tortillas; turkey with gravy, stuffing and corn on the cob; and sweet and sour pineapple pork with vegetables over rice.
Aramark will continue to provide these hot meals to employees until the University resumes a normal schedule.
In addition, Aramark is providing meals to each shift of Norfolk Fire Station 7 Monday through Friday.
In a statement sent to media outlets, Aramark representatives wrote, "We see it as our priority to support first responders who protect, serve and heal our community."
Health-care workers in the community also benefit from Aramark's culinary skills. Sentara Norfolk General nurses and staff are receiving more than 40 individually packaged bistro meals Monday through Friday for the next six to eight weeks.
"Norfolk is our neighborhood and this is our community. Aramark will continue to support the University and those in their network; we are all in this together," the company said.
