PORTLAND, Ore. — There is a huge effort underway to help people who have lost everything in the fires that tore through communities in Southern Oregon.
Restaurants are stepping in to help people while getting some much-needed help themselves.
Anyone who has an appreciation of food knows that a good, made-from-scratch meal can turn your day around.
That’s the goal of restaurant owners who have started dishing up quality meals for people who lost their homes due to the fires.
Sammich restaurant owner, Melissa McMillan, helped bring the idea from Portland to Southern Oregon.
“I live in Portland and own a food truck here called Pastrami Zombie. It’s in Milwaukie, and then I own a sandwich shop on East Burnside called Sammich,” said McMillan.
McMillan also owns a Sammich restaurant in Ashland. She remembers watching video of other businesses and restaurants in the area go up in flames.
Hours later, she got a call from a friend in Ashland who was trying to figure out how to help.
“I was like well, we’re doing a program up here currently through COVID and Multnomah County that I think might be pretty successful down there,” McMillan said.
She said through the CARES Act, her restaurant gets money from the county to make food for people in need. The model, McMillan said, has helped keep her business afloat during the pandemic.
That idea laid the general groundwork for Rogue Food Unites.
“On a good day we’re feeding over 2,500 people a day,” said McMillan.
Here’s how it works: people make donations on the Rogue Food Unites website. The money raised goes directly to restaurants, many of which are already struggling because of the pandemic.
Workers then get paid to make meals for people that are all handed out for free.
McMillan said the beauty of it is that the vast majority of the donations stay local and support local businesses.
She said a donation of $9 essentially covers a quality dinner for someone who needs it.
One of the restaurants that burned down was La Tapatia, an authentic Mexican eatery that many locals loved.
McMillan said the goal now is to provide a place for La Tapatia workers to cook so they can regain some of their income.
Franco Console, Executive Chef at Larks Restaurant in the Ashland Spring Hotel said the meals they make vary.
“All sorts of things like chicken curry salad, we’ve been doing some sesame rice noodles,” said Console.
Larks is one of a number of restaurants in the Rogue Valley participating.
“It’s a good feeling, kind of brings the restaurant back to life,” said Console.
Rogue Food Unites is all about helping local restaurants, help local people.
“It’s almost like a win-win because we get funded to purchase the food, to provide to people in need. So it’s pretty amazing,” Console said.
“We have an opportunity to raise money to not only keep people employed, but more importantly feeding people who had a disaster and have nothing,” said McMillan.
If you’d like to donate, visit the Rogue Food Unites website.
