Chefs help feed unemployed restaurant workers during pandemic

LOS ANGELES -- Chefs are teaming up to provide free meals for Los Angeles area workers in the restaurant industry, many who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.

"I used to work for a restaurant, mariscos (seafood), but unfortunately it closed down ... temporarily closed down," said Alberto Vargas, who is recently unemployed due to the pandemic. "It's going to get harder, but we have to deal with it," Vargas said.

The owner and chef of Gloria's Restaurant in the Huntington Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, Juan San Juan, helped organize this event and said he hopes to make it a little better for those who recently lost their jobs in the service industry.

"I already lost one of my restaurants," said San Juan. "I had to close down there was no way I was going to recover from this. And we didn't think about our business ...all we thought about was how we can help."

San Juan teamed up with his group of restaurateur friends in Los Angeles County, among them celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez, to make this happen.

"Food is medicine," said Aaron Sanchez. "And we're trying to reinforce that idea right now in this scary time that we're living."