Nearly 30 restaurants in Jefferson County participated in its first-ever “The Great Madras Community Dine Out.”
“We are hoping to raise some money to support some of the programs that we are doing currently at the pantry. One of the things that we are working on is trying to get nutritious, well-balanced choices for our clients,” said Executive Director of the Madras Community Food Pantry Kathleen May.
May says she wasn’t sure what to expect Thursday but says some businesses already contributed.
“Lot of community support here,” May said. “We had 29 restaurants signed up to participate in this evening and many, many merchants who agreed to advertise for us and even made a donation towards it.”
From the cities of Culver, Metolius, and Madras with different foods from sushi, burgers, pizza, Mexican food, and more.
“I think it’s just a great opportunity to support community members, especially those that aren’t as fortunate as some of us are and being able to help provide food, a basic need for everybody, is important,” said the owner of New Basin Distilling Company Rick Molitor. “So, of course, we would want to step up and help our community be a better place.”
“I mean, I think it’s a great idea, helps give back to the community, helps the less fortunate and in my opinion, I think it’s really good that we’re doing this,” said the head waiter at Rio Distinctive Mexican Cuisine.
For May, the hope is this will become an annual fundraiser to extend their range of help.
“We’re growing. Right now, we’re leasing space at the United Methodist Church, but we are looking for a new space to operate out of,” May said. “We’re trying to get the funds together to build the building, actually. So we have a lot of irons in the fire.”
