KIND bars for kindergarten teachers, Flamingo razors for first responders and all-natural deodorant for nurses are just a few of the gift programs rolling out this month for what’s been dubbed Frontline Worker Appreciation Month — a new initiative by KIND Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky’s nonprofit, Frontline Builders, to make May a time to stop, drop and thank those who serve as the main point of contact between the public and civil services, the organization said.

This May, over 250 mayors and county officials across the country will be participating by issuing proclamations recognizing the month and hosting appreciation events for frontline workers. According to Frontline Builders’ partnership director, Jason Lalak, the idea emerged because five years from the organization’s inception during COVID-19, frontline workers have continued the work they do, but recognition has waned. 

“Back in 2020, a lot of people at 7 o’clock every night would be applauding and cheering out their windows, banging pots and pans. They would be dropping off care kits in local hospitals and fire stations and police stations,” Lalak told eJewishPhilanthropy. “But that attention really has waned while the work that frontline workers do for our communities has never stopped.”

Frontline Builders is hoping to fill that gap, said Lalak. In addition to working with municipal leadership, the organization has selected different frontline communities to donate food and self care items in New York City; Los Angeles; Denver; Indianapolis; San Francisco; Austin, Texas; Portland, Ore.; Evanston, Ill.; DeKalb County, Ga.; and Chandler, Ariz.

Flamingo, Gimme Seaweed, Glossier, KIND Snacks, Nature’s Bakery, Salt & Stone and Starface are among 18 brands who have donated $500,000 worth of inventory for the cause. 

According to Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez — chief philanthropy officer for the Lubetzky Family Foundation — Frontline Worker Appreciation Month, and Frontline Builders overall, is part of a broader movement that aims to lift up “builders,” those who — intentionally or just by the nature of their work — are combatting polarization and “work across aisles.” Through a number of projects, including Frontline Builders and Builders of the Middle East, the Lubetzky Family Foundation aims to lift up the voices of those at the societal center, she said.  

“There’s a lot of division and polarization and extremism in the nation,”  she told eJP. “Builders we see as people who are fighting to keep it together and working across aisles and collaborating with people who they may not agree with. Very often, our frontline workers, our teachers and our nurses and firefighters, are just doing their everyday work without seeing difference.”