TEMECULA, CA – A hot plate filled with rice, beans, tacos or burritos, plus freshly baked Pechanga cookies rounded out the menu for staff of four Southwest Riverside County hospitals. Frontline medical workers saw COVID-19 cases spike once again in early 2022 – this time in even greater numbers than in January 2021. Quiroz Tacos, a small business taco truck owned by Delia Quiroz from Perris, served up the 2,790 comforting meals to frontline workers.
“We are so grateful to Pechanga for booking us for this job to serve our local hospitals and their staff,” said Alberto Quiroz, co-owner of Quiroz Tacos. “My wife and I have been using our savings to pay bills and our team members. It’s been tough to keep going. Normally we’d have lots of festivals and events booked by now, but we are nowhere near back to the business levels we were before the pandemic.”
“We thought about catering this ourselves, but the fact of the matter is this is a community event and we wanted to include local vendors because these people are working hard trying to make ends meet,” said Ken Perez, Board Member of the Pechanga Development Corporation. “It’s not just about us, not just about the hospitals – it’s about the entire community. We all serve here.”
“Pechanga reached out to us and said, ‘What can we do for your staff?’,” said Jared Giles, CEO of Southwest Healthcare Systems. “This means a lot to the staff here. They look forward to these things we’re able to put on for them. We appreciate the concern and support from the community. It’s been great over these last two years.”
Hospitals served included Rancho Springs Medical Center, Inland Valley Medical Center, Temecula Valley Hospital and Loma Linda University Medical Center Murrieta.
This is the second time Pechanga has sent taco trucks to local hospitals to provide comfort to frontline workers. In February 2021, Pechanga sponsored local food trucks to serve staff at the same four hospitals. Throughout the pandemic, Pechanga has worked to give back to the community in many forms. Gifting 3,000 N95 masks to local hospitals at the beginning of the pandemic, donating a massive financial contribution to the local Rady Children’s Hospital, and donating funds, food, toys and hygiene products for local and regional charities are just some of the ways Pechanga has given back.
