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Last year, they carried the restaurant through the darker days of the pandemic with donations. Now they carry each other – with donated meals.
The restaurant, an almost 16-year-old staple in Norfolk, Virginia, has launched a free meals initiative to feed the community with meal donations from customers.
Anyone in need of a meal can go to a restaurant, remove a ticket from the Franks for Friends bulletin board and exchange it for a menu item.
“Maybe Covid hit them really hard, or they’re in between jobs – or maybe they’re having a meal for their neighbor,” Tarah Morris, owner of Perfectly Frank, told CNN. “We’re not asking any questions.”
The initiative started and grew rapidly
The idea for “Franks for Friends” started with just one donation.
After reopening the restaurant for an in-person dinner, Morris said community donations declined as people felt a sense of normalcy.
But its staff – mostly students from Old Dominion University – were struggling to make ends meet.
A longtime friend and customer donated $ 2,000 to the restaurant, asking that $ 100 be given to each staff member and that the rest be used to feed the community. With $ 700 remaining, Morris began offering free meals.
The initiative evolved rapidly. Customers have also started to donate. A bulletin board has been set up. A clipboard has been designated.
“I had no idea what was going to happen,” Morris said. “We started collecting meals faster than we were distributing them.”
Morris said about five people are calling for meals a day – a number that barely exceeds the amount available. To secure more meals, Morris staff prepare bulk orders for local after-school programs twice a week.
At the restaurant, she tries to keep the meals on the different bulletin board.
Hot dogs, salads, and fondants populate Perfectly Frank’s full menu – but cheeseburgers are the most popular dishes.
Free Meal customers bring their receipt to the cashier to redeem, where they can personalize their order and choose a drink.
‘It’s not even about the money’
Morris said she receives calls, emails and letters from people across the United States who wish to support “Franks for Friends”.
An email from Miami, Florida stood out.
“He said, ‘I don’t have a lot of money – I’m actually broke – but I saw your story …’ and he was so happy to know that there are good people out there. that make good things out of this chaos, ”Morris said.
The man then called to donate a meal – $ 10 – but his card was declined.
The Perfectly Frank employee who was on the phone with him put in his card details, donating $ 20 in his name.
“This story was the most touching and it was only about $ 20,” Morris said. “It’s not even about the money. It’s about people doing great things for someone.”
There is no end in sight
Morris said the surplus of donated meals is so large that she cannot predict an end.
“I hope this will last forever,” she said. “At the rate the donations are coming in, I feel like it will never stop.”
Morris said she hoped to partner with more local organizations to deliver bulk meals. But for now, she said all that had happened had been a much needed morale boost.
“Coming out of Covid and all the hardships – we didn’t even know if we were even going to get there,” she said. “We’ve gone from zero to as high as you can go. It’s been very uplifting, very humbling. We know it’s going to be okay.”
Morris said Perfectly Frank has offered more than 100 meals so far. She doesn’t think they’ll run out soon.
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