On Friday, April 3, Grand Lake Club at Southbridge General Manager Tara O’Sullivan and local attorney Mark Tate of the Tate Law Group donated and delivered home-cooked meals to the staff of SAFE Shelter, a Savannah-based center for domestic violence services.

“Staff here have been working hard and I'm not going to lie, it's been stressful,” said SAFE Shelter Executive Director Cheryl Branch. “This was such a welcome change and it really cheered everyone up!”

Being a 24/7 shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children, SAFE Shelter is always busy, but as more and more people are forced to stay home during the escalating coronavirus pandemic, there has been a spike in domestic violence incidents that has been reported nationally.

“When the pandemic first started to make its way to Savannah, I read on Facebook that Cheryl was having a difficult time finding household items such as toilet paper and paper towels for her residents. As so many people and organizations stepped up to donate much needed items, I felt compelled to find a way to help as well,” explained O’Sullivan. “Being a manager myself, I know what sort of stress a situation like this can put on a staff, so I decided that I would bring a little love to the SAFE Shelter staff by way of a home-cooked meal.”

To bring this idea into reality, O’Sullivan called on Tate for financial backing and he graciously agreed to pay for all of the food and threw in some Tate Law Group bags, shirts and water bottles because according to him, while this pandemic has seemed to put Savannah on pause, cases of domestic violence have not stopped and advocates for those victims also need encouragement to keep pushing forward.

“Tate Law Group is thrilled to help with the very important mission undertaken by our friends at SAFE Shelter,” said Tate. “Through SAFE Shelter’s efforts, we all look forward to ending the scourge of domestic violence.”

O’Sullivan and the Grand Lake Club have been working tirelessly through the pandemic to be of service to the Savannah and Chatham County community. In addition to keeping their kitchen open for pickup and deliveries, they also just launched a free, grocery delivery service for people who need a little help getting food and household supplies. Order forms can be found online at grandlakeclub.com under the ‘Delivery’ tab and must be emailed to [email protected] each Saturday to meet the deadline for deliveries on Tuesday and Wednesday each week.

To order fresh, bistro meals, find them on DoorDash or on their website under the ‘Order Online-DoorDash’ tab. Stay up-to-date with all of their services through the pandemic by liking them on Facebook @GrandLakeClub.