Courtesy: Press Release from the New Orleans Saints
NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas and Raising Cane’s are teaming up to provide 3,000 meals to frontline workers throughout the New Orleans area. The majority of the meals will be distributed to employees at Ochsner Health system facilities across the region.
“It was just something on my heart, I wanted to do my part and support the frontline healthcare workers who are caring for our community. Just like the role they play, it’s huge. Just like the role that they play in the community with the virus and along with just helping people every day with issues and putting their selves at risk. I feel like they’ve been grinding and I just wanted to give back in some way,” said Michael Thomas.
“I thought they would enjoy having some Cane’s during their shift. And I’m grateful to my friend, Todd Graves, for joining me in letting our healthcare workers know how much they are appreciated.”
“We all have a role to play in this crisis, and our healthcare workers’ role is the most important,” said Raising Cane’s Founder & CEO Todd Graves. “So when Michael called me wanting to feed healthcare workers, I matched his donation. I’m proud to call Michael a friend – his effort off the field is as admirable as it is on the field.”
Michael Thomas was ecstatic to later learn that Todd Graves was planning to matching his donation.
Thomas said “Honestly, I was not expecting him to match me in any way. I just went to him just for advice, how I can get this done, and feed healthcare workers. Then it was like when I sent that and he didn’t even answer my question and he said, ‘I’ll match you, whatever you donate.’ I think that just shows a lot about the type of person he is. How much, like I said, New Orleans mains to him. Cane’s is a Louisiana company that is based here, that started here. So this is where his heart is and they’ve done a lot of great things in the area to support the community. I feel like he’s always trying to do that and when you team up with people like that, it always goes, I feel like above and beyond just because of the energy, the passion, and just the love that’s involved.”
Raising Cane’s Restaurants across the country have been providing meals for healthcare workers directly and through partnerships with non-profits and other groups and individuals such as Thomas. Additionally, Raising Cane’s dine-in only restaurants have shifted operations to make masks instead of chicken fingers. Staff have begun sewing three-ply cloth masks to ease the shortage at hospitals, donating thousands of masks to healthcare facilities in Southeast Louisiana and across the country.
