(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- In mid-March, like many restaurant owners, Kevin Yu of Kizuki Ramen says he panicked when he had to suddenly close and lay off staff.
"The first few weeks were horrible," he said. "I had to let go 80% of my staff. How do you make that decision of who to keep and who not to keep? It was a very difficult first few weeks.
After the initial shock, he says he had a moment of clarity and figured out a way to pivot.
"That's when we realized that we can do something in our four walls and make a difference in our community. We have a core group that realized what needed to be done to keep the business going and to keep some staff working."
It didn't stop there. Yu knew he had to step up and help the health care workers who were working 12 hours to 18 hours without a healthy meal.
"Immediately, I started fundraising for the hospitals, matching dollar for dollar. We were able to support UIC, UChicago, Northwestern, Rush, St. Mary's, Mercy, West Suburban. If they have a need, we will be there for them," he said. "Oftentimes, hospital cafeterias close at night, so we focused on the late-night shift who have no access to hot or nutritious food."
He decided to serve Bento lunches, Japanese for "meal box."
"When we first started, I was hoping to donate between 500 to 600 meals, but the donations we got were amazing. We got donations from all over the world. It really shows if we are able to hold hands tight together, we will be able to defeat this pandemic. It's only a matter of time."
Yu says he wants to continue the program as long as donations keep coming in. A Go Fund Me effort has been organized.
He says what started as a knee jerk reaction to survive, has turned into a larger mission for him.
