Food prepared by Potbelly employees is bagged up and ready to be delivered to Peoria health-care workers, thanks to the generosity of people who have donated to a GoFundMe campaign started by Peorian Greg Whitten to help both area restaurants and front-line health-care workers. (Photo courtesy of Greg Whitten)

A seemingly simple idea that popped into Peorian Greg Whitten’s head last month has resulted in food deliveries to hundreds of area healthcare workers by local restaurants and pubs.

Whitten manages a GoFundMe account that raises money to buy food from local eateries to feed medical workers who are on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic that’s gripping the United States and the world.

“Honestly, I was just laying in bed quarantined, and I can’t tell you I know how the idea came to me,” said Whitten, general manager of O’Brien Toyota of Peoria. “But after I thought of it, I just sent a simple Facebook message out saying: Hey, wouldn’t it be interesting and wouldn’t it be cool if we all chipped in some money and used it to support the local bars and restaurants and to feed the medical workers?”

Within 10 minutes of that post, Whitten had enough affirmative answers that he set up a GoFundMe account on March 21 that has since raised more than $12,000.

Whitten said he was surprised that the fund raised $4,000 in the first weekend. “I didn’t expect it to be much more than $600 or $700,” he said. “It’s just been amazing.”

The lifelong Peoria resident has a theory as to why the community has responded in such a big way. “I just think we have a super strong community,” he said. “Everyone has a favorite restaurant or bar and everyone has friends or family that work in health care, and I think everyone just wants to do what they can to help others.”

With that in mind, Whitten decided to call the GoFundMe campaign “Peoria Community Rocks.”

“I’m a pretty big Peoria advocate,” he said, noting that as a college student in Chicago, he often wore a T-shirt that said “Everything’s Better in Peoria.”

So far, the campaign has bought more than 400 meals from about 10 restaurants to serve health-care workers  throughout OSF Saint Francis Medical Center and UnityPoint Health offices.

Because of strict regulations that limit visitors to the hospitals, Whitten hasn’t been able to deliver any of the meals himself, but said, “Everyone I’ve talked to says their gratitude is tremendous.”

Chris Karpowicz, mission service program coordinator for OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center, has been helping Whitten coordinate which OSF offices can benefit from food deliveries. “The outpouring of support from the community, whether it’s through donations of food for our mission partners serving on the front lines or other means, has been so heartwarming to see,” she said. “The generosity from the community is a real boost to morale for everyone at OSF Healthcare.”

One restaurant owner who’s been able to make personal deliveries to health care workers confirmed the gratitude.

“They’re so thankful. It’s really a special thing,” said Sean Kenny, owner of Kenny’s Westside Pub, who delivered sandwiches, salads and soup to staff at the OSF Saint Francis Children’s Hospital last week.

Health-care workers at an OSF Saint Francis Medical Center urgent care center hold bags delivered by Cracked Pepper in Peoria. The workers are among about 400 who have received food deliveries so far from local restaurants paid for through a GoFundMe campaign set up by Peorian Greg Whitten. (Photo courtesy of Greg Whitten)

“I think what Greg’s doing is awesome,” Kenny said. “He’s helping out not only the health-care workers who are out there risking their lives, but also small businesses who are struggling to survive during this time. So he’s really doing two awesome things with one deed.”

Kenny said he was somewhat surprised when he heard about Whitten’s project. “Greg has his own business to worry about, and he’s still going out there and thinking about other people,” he said. “When he asked me if we’d like to help out, I jumped at the chance.”

Like many other restaurants and pubs, Kenny’s Westside Pub is still open for delivery and carryout but is affected by a government order to close their dining rooms through April 30 as part of the social distancing attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Whitten has been taking recommendations for which eateries to purchase food from for delivery to the health-care workers and said all the ones he’s patronized so far have been appreciative and gracious.

“We went through some trial and tribulations because the hospitals needed the meals boxed and different things like that, but they are all delivering these meals and they’re very excited. They’ve all mentioned that this helps keep their people employed. No one has said this helps me keep my lights on; it’s always about the people that work for them,” Whitten said.

Among health-care offices that have benefited from the campaign so far are OSF Saint Francis urgent care centers, UnityPoint Health emergency departments, in-patient pharmacy centers and the Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center.

Boxed lunches like this one from W.E. Sullivan’s Irish Pub are being delivered to health-care workers in Peoria through a GoFundMe campaign started by Peorian Greg Whitten to help both area restaurants struggling during the pandemic and health-care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle. (Photo courtesy of Greg Whitten)

If the fund keeps growing, Whitten said he may eventually extend the help beyond health-care workers.

“I’ve had a lot of recommendations to feed the Peoria police department, which I 100 percent wholeheartedly agree with, and I think we’re getting there,” he said. “My concern, though, was not knowing how big the fund was going to grow, and I wanted to make sure I stayed true to my initial plan because people were donating with the assumption that I was feeding health-care workers.”

He added, “We’ve also talked about trying to feed grocery store workers, the people that are keeping the shelves stocked. We’ve talked about EMTs and all those different front-line workers. The more we raise, the more we can do.”

Because he created the campaign on a whim, there isn’t a Facebook page dedicated to the fundraiser. Anyone who wants more information or wants to recommend a restaurant or health-care office, can email Whitten at greg.whitten@gmail.com or send a message through the Peoria Community Rocks GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/f/the-peoria-community-rocks.

“The most rewarding thing about this is that it proves that such a simple thing can do a lot of good. You don’t have to overthink things,” Whitten said. “I plan to keep doing this as long as donations keep coming in.”