Friends and family of the gluten-free community can nominate gluten intolerant essential workers to receive a care package of certified gluten-free food, according to the press release. GIG is accepting nominations through May 31.
More than 75 nominations have already been submitted, and care packages have been sent to doctors, nurses, physicians' assistants, physical therapists, school administrators, maintenance staff, and others, the press release says. Some of the stories GIG has received include:
- In Colorado, a gluten-intolerant physical therapist working long hours in a COVID-19 rehab facility can’t eat the food the facility provides during her shift due to her dietary restrictions.
- In West Virginia, a head nurse with celiac disease works on a floor that became a COVID unit after the outbreak began. While the staff in the unit have been provided with meals, they were not gluten-free.
- In Washington state, a firefighter has had to work overtime because his colleagues may have been exposed to COVID and are in quarantine. The long hours he works has made it a challenge to go out and find gluten-free meals.
- In Pennsylvania, an RN working 12-hour shifts in a COVID unit in uncomfortable PPE must often refuse meals offered because they contain gluten.
