Freeport restaurant donates thousands of meals to LI hospitals

Last month, Kevin Calhoun, one of the co-owners of the Halfway Down restaurant in Freeport, stopped by Mt. Sinai South Nassau Hospital to donate boxes of medical gloves for the staff. Along with the gloves, Calhoun also brought along coffee, and when the hospital employees told him about how many of them had not had a meal or drink all day, he saw a chance to help those serving on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Together with his partners, Richard Duffy and Hugh Carroll, Halfway Down started its “Meals for Heroes” initiative to make regular deliveries to feed local hospital employees. On April 24, Halfway Down celebrated its 3,000th meal delivery at Nassau University Medical Center, where Freeport leaders and firefighters joined in to help commemorate the event. 

“It’s amazing to see Kevin and the members at Halfway Down go above and beyond to donate to our first responders,” Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy said. “It just goes to show that there are truly great people in Freeport.” 

Carroll said that along with Mt. Sinai South Nassau and NUMC, the restaurant also makes deliveries to NYU Winthrop, LIJ Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital in Bethpage, Mercy Medical Center and Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center. Halfway Down makes at least two deliveries a day to these hospitals.

Carroll added that the work Halfway Down was doing meant a lot to his partners, Duffy and Calhoun, two retired FDNY captains who served as first responders during 9/11. 

Calhoun said that amid the chaos and devastation of 9/11, he remembers the kindness of strangers who stopped by to feed him and his fellow first responders. He wanted to pass that kindness along to the first responders saving others during this crisis. 

“As a firefighter, you always hear people calling you a hero, but we were only doing our jobs,” Calhoun said. “The nurses, doctors and medical staff are doing the same thing right now, so it’s only right that we support them.” 

To help Halfway Down in their “Meals for Heroes,” initiative, visit their GoFundMe page at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/meals-for-our-heroes. They are also accepting snack donations and bottled water at their restaurant at 153 Woodcleft Ave.