Around Christmastime, Quinn became ill and her dad, Tom Przybylak, took her to a driveby COVID-19 testing center in Erie County. While there, she saw all of the medical staff outside, and from there came her idea.

“As we were going through the drive-through testing center,” Flaherty said. “My dad and I looked at each other and both wondered when these doctors ate last.”

Just like that, Fuel WNY was born.

Fuel WNY, also called Fuel the Front Line, is her initiative of supporting local communities in two different ways. She wants to provide as many meals as possible to hospital workers, and to provide those meals, she wants to purchase them from local restaurants.

Quinn Flaherty is aiming to support both Brooks in Dunkirk and UPMC in Jamestown.

“So far we’ve been in two counties and have done four deliveries,” she said. “I have a lot of friends and family who are nurses and doctors, as well as ones in the restaurant business.”

She has already done work for places that include Millard Fillmore Hospital and Kenmore Mercy near Buffalo, but her next stop is in Chautauqua County. Specifically, she is looking for stops at UPMC Chautauqua in Jamestown and Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk. At some of their other stops, due to the size of the staffs on hand, they have not been able to feed the entirety of the staff, but for both UPMC and Brooks, Przybylak thinks the whole staff will be fed.

“Buffalo Suburban has 1,000 employees,” Przybylak said. “But for Catholic Health and Brooks, we think she can feed the entire staff, including temperature takers and security staff.”

Flaherty does have ties to the area. Her aunt has been a nurse for 40 years and currently lives in Lakewood, and her family also owns a summer home on Bear Lake in Stockton, meaning that Flaherty spends a majority of her summers in Chautauqua County. In addition, though she lives in Erie County, she is a Purser for Sea Ship Troop 3821 in Dunkirk.

The project started with a simple GoFundMe. Originally, the goal was $5,000 for 500 meals, but the fundraiser just kept getting money. Currently, they’ve collected $9,000 and are still getting more, which is why the efforts to give back have expanded past Erie County into all of Western New York. So far, about half of the money raised has been spent, and they’re hoping to do one or two more big events in Buffalo, in addition to supporting the Chautauqua County medical facilities.

Though Flaherty did start as a Girl Scout, she switched into the Boy Scouts three years ago, wanting to be pushed out of her comfort zone and forge her own path. And her and her dad want to clarify that while what she is doing is unique, she is not the first girl to do what she’s done.

“They did just let girls in scouting, so it is a newer thing for girls to do,” Przybylak said. “But Quinn is not the only one who has ever done this. Other places have said she’s the only one, but she is not.”

Not being the first does not make her mission any less impactful however. Especially in the midst of the global pandemic, both the medical staff being given the meals and the restaurants where the meals are purchased from are grateful for Flaherty’s efforts.

“The restaurants have been really appreciative, because they’re all struggling too,” Przybylak said. “We’d pick up 50 meals from a place so that helps them, and you get to hospital and it’s a huge deal there as well.”

Flaherty hopes to have her whole project completed by her birthday, which comes up in May, and may even have one of the Chautauqua County stops completed as soon as this week.

More information on Flaherty and her project can be found at fuelwny.com or at her Facebook page, Fuel WNY. Flaherty’s GoFundMe can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/FuelWesternNY