LOS ANGELES — After being closed for almost a year, you’d think The Park’s Finest, a Filipino-inspired BBQ restaurant, would want to open its doors, but the restaurant's owners have other plans. Ann Pajimula is one of the co-owners and she describes what they are doing as going back to their roots by pivoting back to catering, but with a twist.

“To keep safety measures, John and Chris were able to find sponsorships and donors and we did a GoFundMe to help the front-liners,” said Pajimula. “We figured out they’re getting swamped, they’re working so hard, there’s no time for them to eat.”

What You Need To Know

  • The Park’s Finest has delivered over 55,000 free meals to health care workers and firefighters since last March

  • The co-owners all met while community organizing for SIPA, the Search to Involve Pilipino Americans

  • One-fifth of all nurses in California are of Filipino descent.

  • If you’d like to donate to Feed The Frontliners, please visit: gofundme.com/f/feed-the-frontliners-project

Johneric Concordia and Christine Araquel-Concordia are Pajimula’s partners and they decided to work in micro-teams. Pajimula would cook, while they delivered. Instead of opening back up, they've accepted donations from the community and used the money to provide hot meals to hospital workers.

The food is given for free and since last March, they’ve delivered over 55,000 meals.

 

“We miss being able to serve everyone,” said Araquel-Concordia. “As we’re still able to operate, [we] find a way to get people food and take care of the people taking care of us as a community. We got to take care of them so that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

Once the Philippines became a U.S. territory after the Spanish-American War, the U.S. adopted its system of training nurses, which ultimately led to a mass migration. Now, according to a survey by the California Board of Registered Nurses, 20% of nurses in the state are of Filipino descent. Today, they are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Araquel-Concordia wants to support them.

“And as long as we can keep it going with the support of the community, we’re going to keep going this way,” said Araquel-Concordia.

Recently, their Feed The Frontliners project garnered attention from the shoe company Vans, which let them design a limited-edition custom slip-on and T-shirt for “Foot The Bill,” their initiative to assist small businesses during the pandemic. All net proceeds from these products go directly to the businesses.

“We also have to be conscious about what is the dynamic if you do open. Sometimes you encounter anti-maskers and if you’re just trying to go to work and not get sick, this is the best way for us to maintain safety and protection,” explained Araquel-Concordia. “All of this is just really about holding on until we get to the other side of it.”

They estimate they’re doing half the business they did pre-pandemic, but for Pajimula working in the kitchen, knowing they’re taking care of the people who could be taking care of them is just as satisfying.

“We know the struggle is out there, but we just try to look at the positive side of what we’re doing,” said Pajimula. “Our crew, they’re just… they’re really happy that they’re working and they’re happy with what they do on the daily because they know they’re doing something really good.”

If you'd like to donate to Feed the Frontliners, visit their GoFundMe.