As chef Michael Mina thought about ways to help his thousands of furloughed employees early in the pandemic, he ultimately landed on what he does best—stretching dollars to feed people.
With many of the Mina Group’s more than 40 locations temporarily closed, Mina launched a high-end delivery-only concept called Mina Family Kitchen out of his flagship Bay Area restaurant. The menu features dishes created by Mina Group chefs and all proceeds go toward providing daily meals for roughly 3,000 furloughed employees and their families.
The program had provided 45,000 free meals as of late May, according to Forbes.