John Hancock Donation to Help Feed Boston Hospital Workers Fighting COVID-19 From One Boston Day Through Patriots' Day

8,500 Meals Provided in Partnership with Off Their Plate to Responding Hospitals

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BOSTON, April 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - In honor of One Boston Day, April 15^th, through Patriots' Day on April 20^th, John Hancock is harnessing the spirit and resiliency of Bostonians by partnering with nonprofit Off Their Plate to provide more than 8,500 nutritious meals to the essential workforce at Boston hospitals that are providing lifesaving care to fight COVID-19. This initiative builds on John Hancock's donation to the Boston Resiliency Fund and its recent call on the Commonwealth to turn blue in support of frontline workers in partnership with Governor Baker, Mayor Walsh and the Boston Athletic Association.  

Off Their Plate is a grassroots organization that is feeding frontline COVID-19 healthcare workers nutritious meals, while also restoring the jobs of restaurant employees. Through this partnership, over the course of six days, John Hancock's donation will provide over 8,500 meals to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Tufts Medical Center. The meals will be provided through Off Their Plate's Boston restaurant partners Cafe Sushi, Pagu, Mei Mei, Flour Bakery, Porto and Little Donkey, with five more restaurants being added in the coming week, to feed physicians, nurses, janitorial staff, security and anyone directly interacting with and serving COVID-19 patients for either breakfast, lunch or dinner on a rotating schedule.

"These meals, in partnership with Off Their Plate, are a small way for all of us at John Hancock to say thank you to our health care heroes while providing important support to local restaurants," said Marianne Harrison, President and CEO of John Hancock. "It is especially meaningful that we will be serving hospital workers starting on One Boston Day – a day inspiring acts of kindness centered on a time when these same hospitals provided lifesaving care to so many in our community. In the face of extraordinary challenges, they are serving and sacrificing once again with great care and commitment, and we owe them a debt of gratitude we can never truly repay."

"It's incredible to have partners like John Hancock helping to strengthen our dedication to frontline communities in a moment of crisis," said Natalie Guo, founder of Off Their Plate. "This commitment is so much more than a simple donation. In addition to providing meals for hospital teams treating COVID-19 patients, we are also supporting local restaurants and restoring hours and wages to their employees. We are so grateful to John Hancock for their support of Off Their Plate's founding city of Boston."

"Thank you to John Hancock, in partnership with Off Their Plate, for thinking of our staff during a week that has so much significance for our community," Kate Walsh, president and CEO of Boston Medical Center. "These are difficult times, but I am inspired every day by the dedication of our team. And while we can't be on the finish line this Patriots' Day, we're touched to know how much the community is supporting us as we fight COVID-19."

"From our doctors and nurses, to security guards and maintenance staff – our teams are working tirelessly to care for our patients and help bring an end to this pandemic," Dr. David Brown, Chief of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. "It means a lot to have an army of support behind us, and these meals help boost our morale. We appreciate John Hancock's strong partnership with MGH and Emergency Medicine, and we are heartened by all of the support we are receiving from Boston and beyond."

John Hancock is committed to building a healthier, more equitable Boston, especially during this time of crisis. This initiative builds on John Hancock's "You Are Essential. We Are Grateful" effort, launched on April 6^th, which rallied the Commonwealth to show support for frontline workers by lighting buildings blue, displaying signs of gratitude in homes and showing support online. To date, landmarks including TD Garden, Gillette Stadium, South Station, Zakim Bridge, Boston City Hall, and Government Station have been lit blue in support of the effort. John Hancock has also lit its historic weather beacon blue and on One Boston Day will hang a thank you flag for frontline workers on its 200 Berkeley Street building.

John Hancock was one of the first to contribute $1 million to the Boston Resiliency Fund to support COVID-19 relief for the most vulnerable and affected populations in Boston. These efforts go beyond Boston, as John Hancock and its parent company, Manulife, have globally focused relief efforts on providing people safe access to food throughout the coronavirus pandemic across Canada, the United States, and Asia.

For more information, visit www.johnhancock.com/about-us/boston-marathon.html.

About John Hancock and Manulife
John Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife globally, including Canada, Asia and Europe. We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were CAD$1.2 trillion (US$0.9 trillion) as of December 31, 2019. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com.

One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports more than 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and college savings plans. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com.

About Off Their Plate
Off Their Plate (OTP) is a grassroots movement to feed frontline COVID-19 healthcare workers nutritious meals, while restoring the jobs of restaurant employees. Healthcare professionals are not only being asked to work around the clock, but also, many of them lack access to nutritious food as cafeterias are closing or severely limiting their offerings and many health systems operate in food deserts. At the same time, this pandemic has left many local restaurants shuttered and thousands of workers without pay. OTP is addressing both of these impacts by raising funds and partnering with restaurants to provide income continuity for their workers and prepare healthy, delicious meals for our healthcare heroes.

Off Their Plate was started in Boston by Natalie Guo, with generous support and leadership from a coalition of like-minded individuals in restaurants, medicine, education, finance, and more.

SOURCE John Hancock