How one New Jersey ‘Bro’ is stepping up for his community amid coronavirus
Jamie Giovinazzo is the President and Founder of Eat Clean Bro. His company already donated $50,000 worth of their freshly made meals to first responders in New York and New Jersey with no plans of stopping their efforts to help their community amid the coronavirus crisis.
Jamie Giovinazzo is the president and founder of Eat Clean Bro, a service that delivers natural, freshly prepared meals to the doorstep of customers in Georgia and New Jersey. Giovinazzo’s company has already donated $50,000 worth of their freshly made meals to first responders in New York and New Jersey and plans to continue helping the community amid the coronavirus crisis.
“I was greatly affected by Hurricane Sandy, and I know what it's like to be devastated by a crisis,” Giovinazzo told Fox News. “So anytime there's anybody in need, I always try to go above and beyond.”
Above and beyond currently stands at 5,000 meals and 150 trays of food delivered to locations such as New York Presbyterian Hospital, the New York Police Department, the New York City Fire Department, and Newark Beth Israel Medical Center & Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, among others. Giovinazzo also opened his website up to local restaurants to give customers an option to buy pizza, cold cuts, or taco meal kits with 100 percent of the proceeds going back to the original restaurant.
“Whatever money you spend on that kit, it goes straight to the restaurant -- zero charge,” said Giovinazzo. “I hate all of these delivery services that take 30 percent from the place, I think it's destroying the restaurant industry.”
Giovinazzo ascribed his ability to help during the crisis to his company’s infrastructure. Years before the coronavirus pandemic, Giovinazzo knew separating himself from other meal delivery services meant owning his own delivery vans so he wouldn’t have to depend on logistic issues from UPS or FedEx services.
“When people started hoarding food and everybody went nuts and orders exploded, we got everybody their food on time,” said Giovinazzo. “I take a lot of pride that I'm probably one of the only food delivery services in the tri-state area to not completely drop the ball.”
The Eat Clean Bro founder also explained to Fox News that his no-nonsense approach to safety protocols enabled his company to get ahead of the virus. Giovinazzo encouraged workers to stay home if they had any inkling of illness and told them they would still collect a paycheck during any self-quarantine. He said that at a time when other businesses were not allowing employees to wear masks, he was pushing it.
“In times of crisis, when people are showing up to work and you're responsible for your workers, if your workers want to wear a mask and gloves, you let them,’ said Giovinazzo. “You let them protect themselves and their families. You don't send emails and say you guys are not qualified to wear a mask.”
Throughout the month of March, Wegmans grocery stores were not allowing employees to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) including face masks at work. It wasn’t until April 2nd that the grocery store chain announced it would allow employees to wear masks if they chose to.
Giovinazzo said that keeping his employees working and safe has been pushing him through this challenging time in our country.
“When I come into work and I see my staff, working hard, happy to have jobs, and everybody is just super positive right now, that's what really counts for me,” said Giovinazzo. “That's the real stuff that matters.”
For more on how the president and founder of Eat Clean Bro is handling the coronavirus, watch the full interview above.
Emily DeCiccio is a reporter and video producer for Fox News Digital Originals. Tweet her @EmilyDeCiccio.
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