Covid-19 appeared suddenly and without warning. There was no time to prepare. The government shut businesses down and put a stay at-home-order in effect, except for essential workers.

McNulty & Foley Express & Caterers Inc. has been catering weddings, bereavements, graduations, anniversaries, corporate events, and everything in between for 73 years. Our business is in numbers – large gatherings and celebrations. That was all put to a halt without warning.

With every ring of the phone, came another bride cancelling her wedding or the big company outing was now not going to happen.

There was no time to think. We had to immediately start using the “express” in our name. My sister Laurie Dion-Ethier and I had to make a quick decision and change the business model to stay afloat without catering, but also, we needed and wanted to help the community by offering homemade, comfort foods to try and bring back some sort of normalcy.

We decided to expand the “heat & eat meals” that we had been doing once a week for 20 years, Tuesday thru Friday from 11:30a.m. – 3:30p.m., offering fresh soups (some recipes from the Modern Restaurant), salads, and sandwiches. Our priority has always been our customers and we wanted everyone to be able to enjoy homecooked meals, offering delivery, curbside pick-up and take out.

One day, at the onset of the shutdown, I received a call from Lieutenant Thomas Wholey from the Nashua Fire Department. He asked if McNulty & Foley could join other area businesses that they had been ordering food from. The NFD wanted lunch and dinner. Laurie and I felt some relief, that maybe this new business format could work out.

We started cooking for seven fire stations around Nashua for lunch and dinner, to keep the first responders out of the grocery stores. What started out as once a week, grew into twice a week and so on. These firemen were paying what they put into the union to help small businesses. It completely changed the morale, the sullenness, and the uncertainty.

Since the scheduled weekly meals ended, these amazing men and women that fill their city’s firehouses and are first to arrive on the scene, have impacted McNulty & Foley more than they will ever know. The big red truck pulling up in front of the building, located at 124 East Hollis Street, Nashua, embodies more than just the monstrosity of the red truck – it represents kindness, support and care for small businesses.

In a time with so much division, name calling, anger and fear, the NFD has made an unforgettable difference these past, near 4 months, to this small business. Appreciation and gratitude for their support does not go unnoticed.

The appreciation and kindness that we have heard and seen from customers has been overwhelming. We appreciate your business and would like to thank you. A wise man told me there was a silver lining to every bad situation and he was right.