Restaurant resiliency in RVC

Everyone is just looking to help each other.”

Anthony Geraci, Kasey's Kitchen and Cocktails Co-Owner

Sometimes, an especially challenging experience can help people grow and be even better than they once were. The past couple of years have not been easy for people, as many who have lost their jobs during the pandemic have needed assistance paying for things as essential as food and water. Some restaurant owners in New York like Anthony Geraci, who have had difficult time themselves, are lending a hand to those in need as part of the Restaurant Resiliency Program with food banks like Island Harvest.

Kasey’s Kitchen and Cocktails co-owners Anthony Geraci and Tom McNicholas enrolled in the state-funded food initiative in late 2021. The Restaurant Resiliency Program set aside $25 million to provide grants to restaurants that offer meals to New Yorkers within distressed or underrepresented communities. Geraci, 48, eventually got a call from Island Harvest, a food bank that is a member of Feeding America – the nation’s largest hunger relief organization.

Island Harvest representative Jennifer Aeble told Geraci that the food bank was in need of assistance in the Rockville Centre area. Geraci had the meals; which consist of water, fruit, a protein, a vegetable, and a starch, approved by an Island Harvest nutritionist. On February 18, Geraci personally delivered meals – a roasted chicken with brown rice and green beans – from Kasey’s for the first time to St. Paul’s African Methodist Episcopal Church on Pershing Blvd in Rockville Centre.

The meal is kept at 140 degrees when delivered, providing a restaurant-quality dining experience for the church parishioners. Kasey’s staff come in between 5 and 6 a.m. on delivery days to prepare the meals. The deliveries have been twice a week and will soon expand to a second location in addition to St. Paul’s.

The need at St. Paul’s has grown during the pandemic, with over 100 showing up to their Thursday deliveries. Irma Ford, a member of the St. Paul’s, said the church gave out food four times a month prior to the pandemic, but that number rose to three days a week every week due to an increased demand.

“What was so wonderful about Kasey’s at this particular time was that the kids were out of school and he (Geraci) brought them so the parents could have a lunch with their children, as well,” Ford said.

Kasey’s has catered large events before, Geraci said, but this is the restaurant’s first time engaging in a program like Restaurant Resiliency. Geraci is excited to give back to the community that has flocked to Kasey’s over the past 25 years. “When you see that people are reaching out to you for help and you’re able to provide that help, it’s a full circle,” Geraci said. “Everyone is just looking to help each other.”

Geraci hopes to have Ford for dinner at Kasey’s at some point to thank her for organizing the meal deliveries. “She deserves it. She’s the one packaging these meals,” Geraci said. “We’re doing the easy part of cooking and dropping them off. She bags the meals, gets them ready, drops them off, and calls the people on the list to have the food brought to them.” Geraci also thanked his staff for doing this extra work for a cause.

Geraci is excited to continue deliveries over the remaining four weeks of the program and hopes that it is extended in the future.