Minnesota food companies join forces to feed health care workers 'Hero Snack Packs'

(FOX 9) - In an effort to give back to health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of local food companies have joined forces to make what they call "Hero Snack Packs."

The idea is to keep those on the front lines well-fed and fueled to keep going.

Owner of Coco, Bee & Nut, Kathryn Nelson, talked to FOX 9 Sunday morning about the effort.

According to Nelson, this all started because Dr. Erica Kuhlmann from Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul, the dedicated COVID hospital, had reached out to many local snack companies looking for snacks for her staff. Her staff was committed to long hours and was having a hard time getting to the grocery store to get quality snacks. And many of the break rooms were closed.

So, a bunch of small food producers got together and did the first round to Bethesda as a donation (which was about $5000 worth of product). They quickly realized more hospitals needed this, and it wasn’t sustainable to donate to all of them. They decided to ask for help.

The mission is two-fold: get quality snacks to the frontline workers while also supporting small food businesses.

The $25 goes back to the makers involved to recoup the costs of what these makers are providing.

After this week, the group of 15 companies will have fed a little over 1,500 frontline workers at 14 different medical facilities.