Canadian restaurant goes viral for new initiative allowing customers in need to eat for free
A Canadian restaurant and pub is going viral for its heartwarming initiative that makes sure all of its patrons have a warm meal, even if they can’t afford to buy one themselves.
Last week, the Nelson Street Pub, located in Pembroke, Ontario, posted on its Facebook page to let folks know about its new pay-it-forward policy.
The concept is simple: any patron who would like to pre-pay for someone else’s meal can let a server know, and a bill for that meal will be printed and posted on a wall at the front of the restaurant.
If there is a customer in need or who can’t afford to pay for a meal, they can take one of the pre-paid bills, present it to their server, and the kitchen will prepare their order with “no questions asked,” wrote the eatery.
“Times are surely not easy for anyone right now. From homelessness to struggling families to single parents with kids, the list goes on,” it stated.
“We have an amazing community in The City of Pembroke and we want to help as we’ve been helped when we struggled the past few months.”
To get the ball rolling, the restaurant posted receipts for a few meals it had already paid for.
Within a day, the pub posted an update that it had already collected several receipts for free meals.
Donations continued to roll in from generous patrons and the restaurant even added a new online ordering option, allowing folks to donate a $25 meal to put up on the board.
The kindness didn’t stop there. The pub’s post started making the rounds on the internet, inspiring other restaurants to follow suit and put up their own pre-paid donation boards.
“We cannot believe what we’ve started!! We’ve been sent this post from as far as Peterborough!! ” wrote the eatery.
“Restaurants from Petawawa to Arnprior followed what we started and are doing the same! This is incredible and fills our hearts so much❤️.”
The post also made its way onto Reddit, with commenters expressing just how incredible the initiative is.
“Happy when I see things that humane folks do, rather than the inhumane things that happen every day,” said one Redditor.
“This is amazing. I wish there was something like this in my area,” noted another.
“This is a brilliant idea from management/owner! Look at those prices, all those meals paid for with 0 cost to the business until someone needs to eat! As a lifelong restaurant worker I hope this becomes the norm,” stated a commenter.
In its latest update on November 21, the pub said that the initiative isn’t going anywhere and will remain part of its business for the long run.
“Hunger doesn’t end at Christmas! And it’s getting cold out so a warm place with hot food means more than anything to those in need!” it stated.
The business added that its post has reached people “as far as Jamaica” and has inspired many other restaurants to create their own boards.
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