OB team offers a special “thank you” to new moms
By Ann Luongo
Having a baby takes a lot out of new mothers, both physically and emotionally. Once they leave the hospital and return home, they are often faced with caring for other small children and having a household to manage, and one of the last things one wants to do is get up and prepare a hot, homecooked meal shortly after giving birth.
South Shore Hospital, in Weymouth, wanted to do something special for its new moms, as a small gesture of appreciation to them for choosing SSH to help deliver and care for their new babies. Some of the medical team thought it would be appropriate to give these new moms an opportunity to skip the meal prep and just order in.
“A group of us at the hospital wanted to do something to thank these patients for choosing us,” says Dr. Kimberly Dever, MD. “We were discussing various options. We had to be aware of food allergies, sensitivities, etc., but the idea offering a food delivery service really intrigued us.”
The hospital decided to enter into a partnership with Marshfield-based Food Squire – a food ordering and delivery website that utilizes dozens of great restaurants all over the South Shore.
The founder of Food Squire, web entrepreneur Joe Capone, says his own children were born at South Shore Hospital, and he was more than excited about the opportunity to partner with them in a way of thanking them for the great experiences his own family had there.
The hospital decided to include a 5×7-inch “gift card” of sorts in new mothers’ discharge bags, in the amount of $50, which could be redeemed on the Food Squire website at any time.
Both Dever and Capone say the program, which was launched only a few weeks ago, has been very well received by new moms, and over 40 have redeemed their gift cards already.
“This gives them the flexibility to use the gift card whenever the patient desires,” Dever says.
“They can register on the website with their email, and order whatever they want, whenever they want, directly online, and have it delivered to their door. They just enter the code on the card. Using a local business helps support our community, just as they support us.”
Capone has spent the last two years perfecting a food ordering and delivery app that offers new levels of control and convenience for customers, drivers and merchants alike.
According to Capone, he wanted to create a website that might go viral. “We know everyone loves food, and ordering food can be a nightmare,” he says. “When we moved to Marshfield and wanted to order food, the kids would want our attention as soon as we made a call. Or sometimes the order would be wrong. We wanted to build a platform that would make the process easy in a uniform way, so we used our experience to make a world-class food order app.”
Anyone can order a pizza, but what if you’re in the mood for French cuisine? The goal, he says, is to offer a fine-dining experience at home.
“It will be like dine-in takeout,” he says.
Capone and his business partners – Scott McDonnell, Vice President; Rick Warren, CFO; Jason Michonski, Director of Operations; and Rob Simon, Director of Business Development – intend for the service to expand by leaps and bounds this year.
“On Jan. 10, we’re launching the service with dedicated drivers in Worcester,” he says, where they expect to do over 200-plus deliveries a day.
“In the next three to four months, we should be able to have a full-time dispatcher just to handle the South Shore area. Right now, we use the services of 30 to 40 South Shore restaurants on Food Squire. We’re creating a growing awareness of what we can offer. We want to bring the highest quality food to your door in the best possible delivery bags.”
Capone, who also owns Webier Consulting, has a wider vision in mind, however, for this type of ordering service. “People often need office supplies, or hardware, or even pet food. Why not go to one site where you can order them and have them delivered to your door? We could even pick up your clothes from the dry cleaner.”
In the meantime, new moms up and down the South Shore will be able to spoil themselves for a night, and order anything from Greek and Thai, to sushi and sandwiches, all through foodsquire.com, and thanks to its partnership with South Shore Hospital. “Again,” Dever says, “it’s our way of thanking our patients. They deserve a little spoiling.”
Related story: FoodSquire recipient of South Shore Young Professionals’ 2017 Foundation Grant
