Rice Village Launching ‘FARE FOR CARE’ Campaign to Donate 15,000 Meals from Rice Village Restaurants to Texas Medical Center Critical Care Workers

$50K SEED MONEY LAUNCHES DONATION CAMPAIGN FOR FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE HEROES AT TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER, NEIGHBORS INVITED TO DONATE MEALS TO EXTEND CAMPAIGN

The Rice Village district announced it will launch FARE for CARE – a meal donation campaign beginning on Thursday, April 16th that will provide nourishing fare from Rice Village Restaurants to Emergency and Critical Care medical teams battling COVID-19 at the Texas Medical Center. 

Rice Village will donate a minimum of 5,000 meals and match community donations for at least another five thousand, potentially serving more than 15,000 meals to Emergency Room and Critical Care teams working at TMC member institutions CHI St. Luke’s Health, Houston Methodist Hospital, and Memorial Hermann—Texas Medical Center.

With $50,000 in seed money donated by Rice Management Company, owner of the iconic 1938 shopping district popularly known as The Village, FARE for CARE is uniquely positioned to provide morale-boosting sustenance to Emergency and Critical Care teams at the storied Texas Medical Center, while giving neighborhood restaurants the chance to do what they do best: bring community together. 

The FARE for CARE campaign will launch with homegrown talent at buzzed-about Politan Row – the carefully curated, chef-driven food hall that made its critically acclaimed debut less than six months ago, before temporarily shuttering to comply with COVID-related restrictions on dine-in guests at Houston area restaurants. 

Additional Rice Village restaurants – including Mendocino Farms, Sixty Vines, and Sweetgreen – are also answering the call, and with community support, the compassionate program can be expanded in duration and scope.

“Given the robust culinary offerings at Rice Village and our close proximity the Texas Medical Center, we created FARE for CARE as a way to give back to the heroic healthcare workers who are risking their own lives to save others while simultaneously supporting our restaurant partners as they face a challenging time,” said Rice Management Company Investment Manager Cecilia “Ceci” Arreola.  She added, “And it gives our neighbors a tangible way to show love and support for the brave women and men on the medical frontlines.”

That includes lots of love and support from Houston’s famous foodies for the blessed return of Politan Row’s rising-star resident chefs, whose inspired concepts are as diverse as the city itself, including Trinidadian darling Ate Kitchen; Korean culinary phenom Breaking Bao; Mexican seafood star Cochinita & Co.; Thai-inspired kitchen Kin; Japanese-Peruvian Masara Fukuda; vegan fave Nice Sprout; and Egyptian delight Torshi.

“Our chefs are just happy to be back in the kitchen,” said Will Donaldson, CEO & Founder, Politan Group.  He continued, “All of the funds from FARE for CARE are passing through directly to the chefs, and Politan Row is delighted to have the chance to support them in getting their businesses back on their feet.”

In the spirit of It takes a village, Rice Village is inviting neighbors to join the campaign by donating meals with a click of a button at https://rice-village.com/fare-for-care/ with 100% of donations being used directly by restaurants for ingredients and meal production.

Neither Rice Management Company nor Rice Village will receive any profits from the operation and implementation of the FARE for CARE program.   

In addition to patients and families suffering immediate impacts of COVID-19, the crisis hits two vital groups in the Rice Village District community especially hard: medical professionals working long and stressful hours on our front lines of defense against the pandemic;  and restaurants  who are seeing a drastic reduction in their usual business and facing heartbreaking layoffs for loyal workers who are vital to resuming normal operations.  

The first stage of the campaign is estimated to continue for 14 days, and with RMC’s support, Rice Village plans to expand and extend the program based on community support – potentially growing the number of participating Rice Village restaurants along the way.

“We are committed to donating the first 5,000 meals and would be thrilled to join with our neighbors to double at least the next 5,000 meals that could feed more than 15,000,” affirmed Rice Village Senior General Manager, Aj Coffee.