First Hand, a 501c3 non-profit arm of Cerner Corporation, has launched Feeding the Front Lines, a new initiative aimed at supporting Kansas City’s critical care and community emergency service workers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting this week, First Hand is partnering with local restaurants to send meals to the Kansas City metro's critical, front-line workers.

Meshuggah Bagels, who has two Kansas City locations, kicked off the initiative by sending bagels to all KCMO Fire Department stations Wednesday morning while Leawood, Ks.--based restaurant, BurgerFi, prepared and delivered 300 meals to the entire night staff Wednesday evening to Truman Medical Centers.

The food is paid for through donations from Cerner associates plus a match up to $25,000 from First Hand.

The initiative launched on Monday morning and raised $35,000 within the first five hours of going live.

"We’re so inspired by how quickly Cerner associates and Kansas City residents have responded to this initiative. In just two days we have raised nearly $90,000 to provide delicious meals to those on the front lines who are sacrificing so much to help our community through this pandemic. We are happy to support our essential workers and local businesses during this tough time,” said Shanna Adamic, First Hand executive director.

For more information on Cerner's Feeding the Front Lines initiative, click here.