In the start of April, when most restaurants had COVID-19 front-of-mind, Bethesda-based Georgetown Bagelry had even greater concerns for their business: their oven and air conditioning had all been rendered inoperable, and they were forced to temporarily shut their doors. “We kept on as many people as we could to prep and clean, but there simply wasn’t enough work for most of our staff” said Lucien Koefoed, Georgetown Bagelry Vice President.
Georgetown Bagelry: 5227 River Rd, Bethesda, MD 20816
This is when they called local commercial building contractor Era Building Solutions whose representative Mr. Koefoed had met through happenstance only weeks before. “We usually work with larger commercial and multifamily properties, but when you get a call from a Small Business that needs a hand, you jump at the opportunity to help, especially in times like this” said Mike Cain, Era’s Managing Director. The two teams got to work assembling a plan, securing financing, and quickly getting a new oven installed for the Bagelry. Then inspiration struck.
“It occurred to us that we wanted to do business with the Bagelry in a way that would help them to announce to the community that they were back up and running. That’s when Lucien and our team thought to look to local hospitals to see who could use support,” Mr. Cain went on to say. It was discovered that Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring was accepting food and self-care donations for colleagues, and Sarah Walker, Holy Cross Volunteer Services Coordinator, suggested that Era time its donation with Nurses’ Day (the first Day of Nurse’s Week), just as the hospital’s night team was finishing their tiresome late-night shifts.
EV-1 (era’s solar-assisted electric vehicle) filled to the brim with fresh bagels for the hospital on Nurses Day.
On May 6, 2020, the Georgetown Bagelry Team got to work at 2:30AM to begin their artisan baking process. By 5:30AM, Era’s solar-assisted electric vehicle (EV-1) was parked in front of the Bethesda Bakery, ready to be filled to the brim with 1,000 of the freshest bagels around (enough to serve the Hospitals entire on-duty roster).
By 6:30AM, the little EV pulled in to Hospital’s entry loop ready with breakfast to thank the Holy Cross Team for their service to the community and to wish our region’s Nurses well on the first day of Nurses Week 2020.
Mike C. Cain, Era Building Solutions’ Managing Director, personally delivering 1,000 bagels (and 50+ pounds of cream cheese) to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD on Nurses Day, 2020.
Era wishes to congratulate new client, friend, and supplier Georgetown Bagelry on their grand reopening and thank them for the fantastic enthusiasm, energy, and skill that they put toward thanking the Holy Cross team. And—of course—we thank the faculty of Holy Cross and all of our Region & Nation’s Healthcare workers for serving as our Healthcare Heroes during these trying times.
Be well and Happy Nurses Week 2020!
