Unsung Hero: Inside Wendy Mikacich’s efforts to feed hundreds of healthcare workers
Sacramento's Unsung Heroes
Help celebrate Unsung Heroes during the coronavirus crisis in Sacramento. Nominate here.
Alhambra Boulevard is home to Sutter Medical Center, more than a dozen health clinics and three restaurants that are feeding hundreds of medical personnel through community donations.
A nonprofit called Feed The Frontlines 916 has delivered more than 700 complimentary meals to Sacramento-area healthcare workers and first responders from Limelight Bar & Cafe, Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine and OBO’ Italian Table & Bar since April 7. Behind it all is team leader Wendy Mikacich, who schedules the catering orders and coordinates a team of volunteers helping with everything from delivery to marketing.
The program is somewhat self-serving: Mikacich owns Limelight with her husband John, whose mother once owned Andiamo Restaurant & Bar where Kru and OBO’ now sit. Each boxed meal is funded through a $20 tax-deductible donation, leaving the restaurants room to afford all ingredients, pay cooks and still collect some profit while their dining rooms remain closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
But while Limelight and its neighbors see financial benefits, sashimi, enchiladas, pasta salad and more end up in the mouths of healthcare workers and first responders. Feed The Frontlines has donated 708 meals as of April 27 and has the money for another 261, according to its website. $10 from every $100 pack of wines sold by Sutter Creek-based Baiocchi Wines goes to Feed The Frontlines, and Mikacich said she plans to solicit corporate sponsors in the coming weeks.
Limelight first donated a few dozen meals to Sacramento Women’s Health, where John Mikacich’s sister Judy works as an OB-GYN, in late March before Feed The Frontlines was founded. Seeing the employees’ gratitude made Wendy Mikacich, who previously worked at health insurance giant Aetna and medical consulting firm Sg2, want to do more.
“I just wanted to do anything I could to help the hospital community and those workers, and there was so much staff all the restaurants had to let go as part of (the pandemic),” Mikacich said. “ We were trying to do anything we could to build resilience in this community and working with the hospitals seemed like a nice way to hit both of those missions.”
Feed The Frontlines has so far served Sacramento-area clinics and hospitals affiliated with UC Davis, Dignity Health and Sutter Health, as well as Sacramento Fire Department stations and Medic Ambulance Service.
Many nurses, doctors and other employees at these facilities have actually seen their workload significantly drop as nonemergency medical appointments are canceled, but anxiety over what germs patients may bring in remains high, Mikacich said.
“There’s just a level of stress that exists in hospitals right now, not knowing what’s coming and being in an area where you feel like you could have exposure from someone coming in,” Mikacich said. “Regardless of how many patients have at one time in your unit, that stress level is elevated.”
Medical professionals interested in receiving meals for their office should email feedthefrontlines916@gmail.com. OBO’ issued Feed The Frontlines recipients gift cards as the kitchen wasn’t running in April, but the Italian restaurant reopened for takeout April 30.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 4:00 AM.