Arnold Schwarzenegger sent 1,000 lunches to medical workers, in a bid to help those on the front line against coronavirus.
The former Governor Of California provided the meals from Italian restaurant Buca di Beppo to the staff Keck USC Medical Center.
As advised by California’s Safer At Home mandate, Arnold, 72, has been holed up at home with his family. But, he explained, he knew others didn’t have that option.
‘While we are in quarantine and social distancing, there’s a lot of people out there that are really fighting on the front lines of this coronavirus,’ he said.
Doing his bit: Arnold Schwarzenegger sends 1,000 lunches to ‘unbelievable’ medical workers on the front line against coronavirus
‘Fighting’: The 72-year-old sent enough meals to feed all the hospital staff
‘This is the people in the hospitals. Specially at USC, the Keck School Of Medicine. I mean they are unbelievable. And this is why I said to myself, we got to do something special for them besides just providing masks.
‘So I said to myself, maybe I should send them some food… Thank you for the great work you are doing, hasta la vista.’
Video footage showed a series of trucks from the Italian chain, pulling up outside the hospital to unload the lunches, which were enough for all the staff working that day.
Buca di Beppo is owned by Planet Hollywood, owned in turn by Earl Enterprises, which was launched in 1991, with the backing of Schwarzenegger and his Hollywood chums Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore.
Calling the restaurant his ‘favorite’, Arnold said they often catered events at his house.
The donation comes after Schwarzenegger previously established the Frontline Responders Fund, which will provide critical supplies such as masks, gowns, and gloves to first responders as they treat patients suffering with coronavirus.
Deliveries: Arnold sent 1,000 meals to the medical center – enough for everyone on duty
Carefully packaged: In individual bags for safety reasons, the meals were delivered by drivers wearing gloves and masks
He announced the fund on Instagram and wrote: ‘I never believed in sitting on the couch and complaining about how bad things are, I always believed we should all do our part to make things better.
‘This is a simple way to protect our real action heroes on the frontlines in our hospitals, and I’m proud to be part of it. I donated 1 million dollars, and I hope that all of you who can will step up to support these heroes. Go to the link in my bio to help out.’
The fund aims to raise $5 million in total, with Arnie kicking things off with $million of his own money.
The Terminator star also teamed up with TikTok to help feed hungry families.
The online platform donated $3 million to the Conan the Barbarian actor’s After-School All-Stars, which usually funds afterschool programs for children.
Amid school closures to try and halt the pandemic, Schwarzenegger thought it would be ‘cool and great’ to provide food through the foundation instead.
He said in a TikTok video: ‘Because of the corona crisis, those kids have been sent home so now instead of providing after school programs we thought it would be cool and great if we could provide food for those families.
Much deserved: The restaurant sent over multiple meals for those on the front line
‘But, of course, you can have the best ideas in the world but if you don’t have the money you have nothing … So TikTok came along and said we are the ones that are going to donate the millions of dollars to help feed those families.’
The foundation’s team will deliver food and gift cards for groceries to families in need to 60 cities in the country, including New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Miami.
After-School All-Stars have partnered with the likes of Food Land, Giant, Kroger, Publix, Ralphs, Safeway, Target, and Walmart to supply the food vouchers.
Safer At Home: Arnold, seen on Instagram on Friday, is staying with his family