The coronavirus pandemic has created both a shortage and an overwhelming need for protective face masks in every community. One fast food chain with Baton Rouge roots is doing its part to help.
While most Raising Cane’s locations remain open serving drive-thru customers, the dine-in only location in downtown Baton Rouge has found a new way to serve the community and keep its workers employed. About a dozen crew members work eight-hour shifts sewing masks to donate to health care facilities in the region.
“Being actively involved in every community we serve is a part of who we are, especially here in our hometown,” says Raising Cane’s CEO and founder Todd Graves. “While a lot has changed, our commitment to the community has not.”
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The crew members work in teams of four, and work on alternating days. Raising Cane’s provides all the materials and sewing machines—lined up against the restaurant’s windows—and crew members with previous sewing experience provided the training.
The crew members are fast learners and hard workers, according to Graves.
“We knew it wouldn’t be long until they could add ‘Mask Maker’ to their ‘Fry Cook’ and ‘Cashier’ titles,” he says.
The teams have been working seven days a week—except on Easter Sunday—since April 11. As of April 25, they had produced more than 1,000 masks, with another 1,000 masks expected to be completed this week.
The first donation of masks went to Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge, and the next 1,000 masks will be donated to a health care facility in New Orleans. Crew members will continue to make and donate masks until dine-in restaurants can reopen.
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“I can’t tell you how proud I am of our crew members for stepping up and supporting our community in such a meaningful way,” Graves says. “When our crew came up with the idea, I was immediately on board.”
In addition to donating masks, Raising Cane’s hosted a virtual entertainment series on its Facebook page that raised more that $35,000 for the Bella Bowman Foundation. It also partnered with Peyton Manning’s family to feed 3,000 frontline health care workers in New Orleans.
Find more information about local restaurants’ efforts to support the community here.