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About 200 Los Angeles cooks are back at work, launching a California project to use federal disaster relief money that pays restaurants to prepare and deliver thousands of healthy meals for at-risk seniors, Reuters reports.

The program, called Great Plates Delivered, is part of the state’s effort to ease suffering inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic that has left a trail of death, unemployment and hunger in its wake.

Alba Molina, 57, a cold food prep cook at downtown’s Westin Bonaventure hotel, is among the workers who mask up for duty at the otherwise deserted property near the Los Angeles Convention Center.

“It’s helping me pay my bills. It’s not just any job, it’s a good job with benefits,” Molina said.

Next week, Molina and her colleagues at other restaurants and hotels will turn out meals for nearly 4,700 seniors in the greater Los Angeles area. “I feel honored to be able to provide them this service,” Molina said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the project in late April with the stated goals of serving a population vulnerable to COVID-19; boosting employment from farm to kitchen; and generating much-needed tax revenue for cities.