A restaurant in Virginia has been praised for offering customers that are financially struggling one meal a day - no questions asked.
According to USA Today, the charitable initiative was spearheaded by Perfectly Frank, a restaurant located on The University Village on Monarch Way in Norfolk, Virginia.
The campaign, entitled "Franks for Friends", sees its participants paying for meals and leaving the receipts on a cork noticeboard. That way, anyone who is hungry and wants something to eat, but who is otherwise unable to afford the meal themselves, can take a receipt (no questions asked) and redeem it at the register for a free meal of whatever was listed on the bill.
USA Today reports that the original concept for the scheme came about after a donor came into the eatery bearing the kind offer of $100 for each member of its 15-person staff, who were struggling due to the effects of the COVID pandemic on the hospitality industry.
After two staffers returned their share, there was $700 left from the kindly benefactor's donation. Touched by the offer, the staff at the restaurant voted to give a little love back to their local community, which the establishment has been a part of for nearly 16 years.
The "Franks for Friends" board has reportedly been a smashing success, and the restaurant's owner, Tarah Morris, says that around 50 customers have picked up a free meal in the space of two weeks, with nobody (so far as she is aware) taking advantage of the kindness of strangers.
Commenting on her scheme in a later interview with USA Today, Morris stated:
"We felt like it was kind of a nice chunk to do something bigger.
"We don’t ask any questions. We don’t need to know what the details are. They could be eating it themselves. They could be bringing it to a neighbor. They could be dropping it off to a homeless guy on the corner.
"We don’t even feel like we’re doing anything. Customers are donating money for us to buy meals for people in need."
She added: "We know that we’re in existence because people choose us, and we’re grateful.
"The giving has been more plentiful than the receiving. We have a clipboard with, I don’t know, 100 more tickets on deck, waiting to go up on the board. People want to help. They are driven by helping somebody."
