Photo Flash: Jay Armstrong Johnson & Sam Quiggins Perform in Celebration of 1M Meals from World Central Kitchen

Last week, a Bronx hospital received a brief taste of Broadway thanks to a partnership between Bloomberg Philanthropies and World Central Kitchen. As part of an event celebrating the milestone of one million meals served to more than 30,000 healthcare workers in NYC over the past six weeks, Broadway star Jay Armstrong Johnson, best known for his roles in Phantom of the Opera and ABC's Quantico, along with cellist Sam Quiggins, performed a selection of songs to frontline heroes during lunch at Jacobi Hospital.

See the photos below!

Since this partnership launched with a $6 million gift from Mike Bloomberg on April 15th, workers at 16 facilities of NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest public health care system in the country, were served fresh, daily meals. More than 30 local restaurants, caterers, and food trucks were paid to serve gourmet meals to the hospitals' doctors, nurses, facilities staffers, police officers, janitors, and visiting medical staff and military personnel. More than 400 NYC food service employees who had lost jobs during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic were put back to work.

The undertaking included adhering to strict social distancing and health guidelines while New York City's hospital workers managed enormous pressures to save lives and stop the spread of the virus. Working in close collaboration, World Central Kitchen, NYC Health + Hospitals, and Bloomberg Philanthropies devised the safest and most expedient ways to serve protein, kosher, halal, and vegetarian meals at 11 acute care hospitals and five post-acute long-term care facilities across New York City seven days a week.

"Our partnership with Chef José Andrés and his non-profit, World Central Kitchen, has provided fresh, daily meals to thousands of health care workers at 16 of New York's public hospitals and long-term care facilities - and I'm glad to say we've now served more than one million meals," said Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg LP, three-term mayor of New York City. "Our health care workers embody the very best of our city, and this was a small way of showing our appreciation as they work under incredibly stressful conditions. We're glad to support them, and we will never forget all that they're doing to take care of us."

"Like Mike Bloomberg, we at World Central Kitchen work to find smart solutions to big problems. Seeing the impact we have made together attacking this crisis on two fronts-buying meals directly from local restaurants and caterers to keep them up and running and their teams working, and serving those meals to nourish the tireless heroes at NYC Health + Hospitals-shows just how powerful a change agent food can be," said Nate Mook, CEO of World Central Kitchen. "We are grateful for and honored by Mike's support as we continue to deliver hope and strength, one plate of food at a time."

"We are overwhelmingly grateful for Bloomberg Philanthropies and World Central Kitchen's contributions to our fearless healthcare workers on the front lines of this pandemic," said Mitchell Katz, MD, President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals. "We're humbled and honored that over 30,000 meals fueled our workforce as they provided lifesaving support to New Yorkers, as well as supported our communities by providing business to local restaurants and establishments in this unprecedented time."