Craveable Brands’ Red Rooster has joined forces with a volunteer meal program to help supply frontline medical staff with free meals.

Student Alex Dekker created Alex Makes Meals two weeks ago and the volunteer program is now producing more than 1000 meals a day. Some of the volunteer staff working across the program’s four kitchens have lost their  hospitality jobs as a result of the health crisis.

The partnership with Red Rooster sees the national chicken chain help out with food drops to first responders and medical staff on the front line of the Coronavirus pandemic in Victoria.

Clint Ault, Red Rooster CEO, said of the partnership “As a brand we instantly loved what Alex was doing and wanted to get on board.  As Australia’s first and favourite chicken shop, Red Rooster feel that it’s our obligation to bring comfort and support to those who need it most right now.“

Ault described Alex Dekker as an inspiring example to young Aussies everywhere.

“As an employer of a largely young workforce, Red Rooster wanted to show support for the amazing work that he is doing.  We thank Alex for allowing us to help him on this special mission to feed Australia’s frontline,” Ault said.

Alex Dekker said “For 50 years Red Rooster has been feeding Australians and like us, they want to help out our heroes in healthcare, who are working very long hours and in trying conditions.

“Many don’t have time or support to manage nutrition and diet, so we are thrilled Red Rooster has come on board to help meet the increasing demand we are seeing from hospitals and medical professionals across Victoria,” he said.

The program currently operates across Melbourne’s eastern and western suburbs and is rapidly expanding to include the rest of Australia, starting with Sydney and Brisbane.

“We are seeing an unprecedented volume of demand and orders on a daily basis, and we are fielding calls from hospitals and volunteers across NSW and Queensland.  We are hoping to scale up into those states as soon as possible,” Dekker said. “Having the support of Red Rooster is great and we‘d love similar organisations to come on board,” he added. 

A GoFundMe campaign aims to raise $100,000 to continue providing the meals, and is already more than half way to its total. 

This story originally appeared on sister site Inside Franchise Business.