The Institut Paul Bocuse community engaged in the fight against Covid-19

Ever since the beginning of the lockdown period, Institut Paul Bocuse students and alumni have continued to demonstrate their commitment and solidarity towards those who are at the forefront of the struggle against the ongoing health crisis.

Today more than ever before, mutual help and solidarity are values that underpin the actions of the whole Institut Paul Bocuse community. Below, you can read about just a few of the initiatives undertaken recently.

Enrique Gomez Moro (2001). Owner of the Gomex Cantina restaurant, Enrique and his team delivered their entire stock of masks to the Chairman of the Lyon Association of paediatricians. In addition, his team offered 30 kilos of guacamole and tortilla chips for an apéritif at the emergency ward of the Mother and Children Unit at Bron hospital.
Gaspard de Salins (2014). Co-founder of the concierge service ‘My Little Pressing’, Gaspard offers to wash the laundry of individuals requiring home help and has made his company’s vehicles available to transport medicine and food to those who are most in need.

“When the lockdown was first announced, we thought that given our logistics’ resources, we could make ourselves useful. We therefore got in touch with a number of associations to offer them our services. We contacted the ‘Secours Populaire’ (a non-profit organisation fighting poverty and discrimination) as well as ‘Les Petits Frères des Pauvres’ (a foundation supporting the elderly and lonely) to inform them of our wish to provide assistance. The idea above all was to come to the help of elderly or isolated individuals”.

Elise Grandidier (2017) – founder of Le Tour des Terroirs Association and Claire Dellinger (2013) – ‘chef de partie’ at Monsieur P restaurant, helped to prepare meals for medical staff. In total, 250 meals using French farm produce were prepared for staff working at hospitals in Lyon.

“Given the state of the current crisis, we felt it was our duty to come to the help of those who are on the frontline fighting to stop the spread of the virus. The key today is solidarity. Along with a group of our members and taste ambassadors, we therefore decided to offer meals prepared by our association’s chefs for nurses and auxiliary nurses, using products from our French suppliers”.

The ‘Trait d’Union’ student society that carries out humanitarian work on behalf of Institut Paul Bocuse, also rallied together with the NGO ‘Les Petits Frères des Pauvres’ to support elderly members of public by calling the loneliest and thus maintain a social link during this difficult period.
Amélie Girardon, a year 4 student in Maximizing Profit in the Electronic Market Place has got together with the ‘Hum’Amis’ Association to offer ‘Des douceurs pour réchauffer les cœurs’ (Sweet things to warm the heart). The team prepares and delivers pastries each week to nurses working in three hospitals located in Lyon and the Alsace region.

“The COVID-19 crisis has particularly affected us. The food service industry has been hit very hard, just like most other sectors in fact. This is why we have developed the ‘Sweet things to warm the heart’ project. Each of us has chosen to take part in the project in our own regions in order to support the medical staff. Each week we individually prepare a ‘sweet thing’ (cakes, desserts) for about 40 people”.

As far as the School is concerned, our staff store has delivered its entire stock of 1,000 masks to Lyon Sud hospital, along with our best wishes to all the medical staff working there.