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PORT NECHES — Gather: Paleo Café & Market is offering the community a chance to adopt a healthcare professional or first responder to whom one can send a hot, healthy meal.

Owner Chrystal Lundy said it is just one of the ways to thank someone working on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle.

“I don’t know if people on the front lines are able to get out for lunch,” she said. “I have no idea how they are getting food, but I know that people want to help and can feel powerless when they don’t know how. So we wanted to provide a way.”

Lundy said she had several friends reach out to her about offering this delivery program before deciding to dive in.

“It’s a giving situation,” she said. “We are able to do it and provide the food for it, so why not help out? We’re all friends with people who are nurses and they would really appreciate the kindness of someone thinking about them. It just shows the generosity of people.”

Anyone interested in sending a doctor, nurse, healthcare professional or first responder a healthy lunch option from the café can call or message the restaurant before 11 a.m. Payments are received over the phone and delivery is free.

A café employee will deliver the meals directly to the hospital or department during the specified timeframe.

A shrimp Buddha bowl is pictured. (Courtesy photo)Delivery radius is from Port Arthur to Beaumont from noon to 2 p.m.

“Since we aren’t using our dining room, this program frees up time and space,” Lundy said. “We have the opportunity that we didn’t have before. We have someone available to gather up the orders and deliver it.”

Options are available for daily and in-bulk delivery. The sender may include a handwritten note if specified or can be provided anonymously.

“We had a couple people ask to do a bulk order,” Lundy said. “If an office called to do one or two things off the menu, that’s great but the more the merrier. Either way, the opportunity is really endless.”

To make an order, call 409-527-9696 or message Gather: Paleo Café and Market on Facebook.

Lundy said she’d like to see the program really pick up in the next few weeks.

“It’s silly not to take advantage of this,” she said. “It’s a way to help, even when you can’t help anywhere else and are locked in the house.”

Restaurant hours are Tuesdays-Fridays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed Mondays and Sundays.

Menus change weekly.

Gather is also offering family meals between 3-4 p.m. from $40-50.

(Editor’s note: Do you know someone in the community doing something extra to help out in response to COVID-19? Send an email tip to panews@panews.com so we can get that person or organization recognized.)