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The mission of 10k Sandwiches, powered by the Chaffin Luhana Foundation, is to help feed those in need during national and regional crises. Our goal is to engage other businesses and nonprofits to work cooperatively with the general public to do the particular good deeds that are needed, and empower people to create hope for the future.
10k Sandwiches was borne as a direct response to the lack of meals provided to schoolchildren during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform serves Chaffin Luhana LLP’s guiding principle: “Doing Good by Doing Right” — that the firm seeks to do good for its clients and in the community by doing the right thing in difficult times.
The idea for 10k Sandwiches initially formed from a simple conversation between friends about COVID-19’s effect on the service industry. Later that day, a Chaffin Luhana Foundation trustee and his friend, a deli meats distributor from New York-based Nations Best Deli Meats, discussed a mutually beneficial arrangement: “We’ll buy 2,500 pounds of deli meat if you can deliver it within a few days—to Pittsburgh.” Nations stepped up and contributed the deli meat at cost.
With a guarantee of deli meat for sandwiches, calls were then quickly made to local business friends. Within a few days, bread, cheese, lettuce, chips, and milk cartons were secured—most of which were donated. Local vendors who couldn’t donate product gave their time, helping to slice the meat and bread and also help package and deliver the meals.
Given the economic slowdown, it was a win not just for those we fed, but also for some struggling local businesses, which were eager to help. It gave their employees the opportunity to work and garnered their companies goodwill in the community.
With plans and logistics set in motion, just six days after inception, 10k Sandwiches happened to great success—and that day, the human spirit truly showed.
Over the course of this event, we quickly learned that schoolchildren were not the only ones in need of food. The elderly, for example, could not go out and buy food—a point that seems obvious now.
Many people picked up 50-100 sandwiches and delivered them to the porches of elderly neighbors who needed food. Others took deliveries to nursing homes and left food at the doors for those inside to gather and distribute. Additionally, some 2,500 of the sandwiches were even delivered to public housing communities by a local catering company that pitched in at the last minute to assist.
So many people showed their hearts that day, and by helping, people are empowered. They want to do good. They want to do the right thing and help.
10k Sandwiches is about more than just making sandwiches; it is about thousands of small acts that come together to make up a movement to create positive change.
