Carryout for La Comunidad Brings Business to Hispanic Restaurants, Food to Health Care Workers

The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce St. Louis Foundation has partnered with BJC HealthCare and Affinia Healthcare to launch Carryout for La Comunidad, an initiative to help two groups hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Latinos are among those hardest hit by recent pay cuts and furloughs, according to the Pew Research Center. A recent survey found that about 8 million Hispanic people were employed in restaurants and other service-sector businesses in the U.S., which have been losing money due to the coronavirus. About 49 percent of Hispanic people surveyed said they or someone in their household has experienced a pay cut, lost a job or both because of the pandemic, compared with 33 percent of all U.S. adults.

Carryout for La Comunidad uses money donated from the community to purchase meals from Hispanic Chamber of Commerce member restaurants, according to a press release. Those meals are given to health care workers, patients and families in the BJC HealthCare and Affinia Healthcare systems.