GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It's the season of giving and two local business owners have taken it to heart, giving away thousands to unsuspecting grocery shoppers.
At Ralph's Food Market in Grand Rapids last week, Chef Jenna Arcidiacono and Chris Andrus played Santa and Mrs. Clause to shoppers who had no idea they were about to have their groceries payed for in full.
"A lot of people were just confused," said Chef Jenna, who runs Amore Trattoria. "I think they saw me in my crazy costume. But then once they went through and saw that we were paying for their groceries, I think they were just thrilled, happy, relieved. Lots of hugs happened."
Chef Jenna and Andrus, the co-owner of Mitten Brewing, know full well the challenges of paying the bills these days.
"Prices of everything are going through the roof. And no one's more aware of that than restaurant owners and restaurant customers," Andrus remarked. "So we thought it'd be a great place to pay it forward. And we chose some local markets because we didn't want the money to go to big chains that didn't need it. And we want to do something really impactful for people feeling the pinch during the holidays."
They say the feedback was great but one story in particular sticks out.
"There was a fourth grader who ran down to the store with $10 from her mom to buy the family meal for the night. And she got to put that $10 back in her pocket, bring it home and one of our board members went, took her back out in the store and got some more stuff that she wanted."
When asked to what she credits the ability to do things like this, Chef Jenna said, "My dad, when I was growing up, took me around to do things like Meals on Wheels. And I think if you start your kids at an early age learning that community service is really a cool thing to be involved with but also a great thing to be involved with... I think that's really important to instill. So we can have little ones grow up and want to do the same thing."
They both suggest that steadfast support from their customers has allowed them to give back, especially over the last two years when business for restaurants has been particularly challenging.
Andrus said, "We know everyone has a choice of where they want to spend their money. And we hope that they see that their money is well spent when they come here."
Together, Chef Jenna's and Andrus' non-profits committed $2,500 to the customers of Ralph's and plan to do the same two more times.
"It was the best day I've had in months," Andrus added.
If you would like to help their mission of paying it forward, there are ways to donate to both the Mitten Foundation and Food Hugs. Click the links to donate!