Taking place primarily behind the scenes, the work of cleaners, superintendents, and gardeners across Toronto's many condos often go unappreciated.

Residents in the CityPlace neighbourhood want to change that by showing the staff members of their buildings a little love this Valentine's Day with a free lunch.

Leading the charge is Husain Neemuchwala who lives in a condo building on Queens Wharf.

"With so much gloom, if you can put a smile on someone's face it's really nice," he told blogTO.

"[The staff have] all been hit by the pandemic just like we all have. They work in the loading docks, they work in the bathrooms, they clean up the elevators, and most people don't even know their name." 

Four restaurants in the area including Fox & Fiddle, Roses New York, Roywoods and Taste D West Indies will be providing lunch to about 200 staff members across 30 different buildings.

An even amount of coupons from each restaurant will be dropped off at each building so that the property manager can give them out to the staff.

They'll then be able to stop in and pick up a complimentary lunch from one of the partnering restaurants on Valentine's Day or the day before or after.

"CityPlace is our home," Roywoods, who will be providing Chicken Sandwiches, told blogTO. "We wanted to take this time to say thank you to the true foundation of CityPlace that allows 'staying at home' to be safe, clean and comfortable for everyone." 

The real estate developer in the area, Concord, will also be helping to subsidize some of the meals in order to support the restaurants who are taking part.

This initiative is following a contest to find the best concierge that took place a few weeks ago in the same neighbourhood. Neemuchwala, who was responsible for that as well, just heard from somebody in North York about doing a contest of their own between 80 buildings. 

"What started as an initiative by one person in just one corner of the city, it's now possibly moving to other buildings and neighbourhoods," he said.