A restaurant in Kincardine is giving back to the community by offering free meals to those in need.
Co-owner of Bar Down Alana Rozon says community members can purchase a $15 Buddy Meal, and pay in advance for someone else’s meal.
“Anybody that’s in need can come in and take a purple heart off the wall. They come in like a regular guest, we will seat them at a table, and they can order their meal. At the end of their meal when they go to pay, they can hand us the purple heart and we’ll know to take care of their meal,” said Rozon.
She says there isn’t a limit to how many purple heart buddy meals can be used at once, adding a family of three can use three hearts to pay for the bill.
Rozon says she felt it was important to give back to the community as many people aren’t aware so many are struggling locally.
“I hear different stories from the counseling services in town of how many people are in need and how overwhelmed the women’s house is, and even the food bank can’t keep up with the amount of people they have registered in their system,” she added.
This program is new, however Rozon says they have already received amazing feedback from their regulars, and the wall of purple hearts filled up quickly.
Rozon says $15 covers the average cost of a meal, and anything not covered by it is absorbed by Bar Down. She hopes this is an idea that catches on, and encourages any other local restaurants to create their own program if they are able to include it in their budget.
“I highly recommend and encourage other restaurants to do [a program like] this. Being able to give back and have people experience our restaurant is what it’s all about. We are so happy to get this started,” said Rozon.
Rozon says there is no cut-off for this program, and it will remain in place for as long as the restaurant is open.
