‘Kosher Guru,’ Community Chest fuel food program

The "Kosher Guru" has come up with another initiative to help those in need of food during the coronavirus pandemic.

Hewlett resident Gabriel Boxer, also known as the Kosher Guru, has launched the “Feed A Family Fuel A Restaurant” program. The goal is to help feed families in need of food while also supporting local restaurants. 

“I am proud and honored to be able to share this project that we have been working on for a few weeks now,” Boxer said. “We are finally officially rolling it out to help so many local small businesses while being able to sustain and help many families in need now.”

Boxer is known as the “Kosher Guru” because of his background in the kosher food industry. He is a restaurant consultant who aims to help companies thrive in the industry. Boxer has a prominent presence on social media as his Instagram account: @kosherguru has more than 45,000 followers.

He previously launched the Kosher Response Project in the earliest days of the pandemic in March in an effort to donate meals to first responders around the tri-state area.

“I have family friends who work at NYU Winthrop and Mercy Hospital and I wanted to help them in any way I could,” he said. “I just kept bringing food to them and I winded up getting a great response from people on social media for it.”

The initiative is being funded by Community Chest South Shore. Community Chest’s mission is to help other organizations and institutions as they serve as an umbrella charity that raises money. 

Community Chest President Cal Nathan said that Boxer epitomizes what the organization looks for in their Vision 2020 initiative, which seeks to support entrepreneur-minded individuals that will energize the community with their ideas.

"Gabe's the perfect example as someone who is a social entrepreneur that is innovating and making an impact in the community," Nathan said. "He’s doing two goods, helping people in need and also helping local restaurants."

Nathan added that Boxer's work ethic has been on display during the pandemic. "For the past eight weeks, Gabe has worked relentlessly to help the community," he said. "He personifies charity and kindness."

Boxer is appreciative of Community Chest’s funding. “We would like to truly thank our partner Community Chest South Shore who made this possible to help support local small businesses and families in need,” he said. “I thank their entire board and all of its members for helping us continue our mission and partnering with us to continue doing good.”

The donations will be used to purchase gift cards from local restaurants and give to families in need.

Donations can be made at www.kosherresponse.com. To confidentially request a meal for a family, go to: https://bit.ly/2TgOpza.