Information: metrocafes.com
Einstein’s Restaurant in Midtown Atlanta continued its 25-year-old tradition of providing hot meals to Atlanta’s homeless this past Thanksgiving and giving back to the local community.
“We’ve always been committed to the community, a philosophy we continue at each of our concepts, and it made sense to give back on Thanksgiving,” said Jeff Landau, CEO of Metrotainment Cafes, which owns Einstein’s. “The other part is many homeless go to shelters for their meal, but we really wanted to bring the food to them and make it easier for them to get a hot meal.”
The team gets started at about 5 a.m. by prepping the food, all made Einstein’s, including baked goods from Metrotainment Bakery. The menu includes mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing and more which are then prepared into to-go boxes.
The fleet of volunteers then take boxed dinners and hand-deliver the homemade food to people on the streets with a goal to reach between 900-1,000 people.
“It’s a great feeling of purpose. We know all of the hard work and planning is going to provide something, even as small as a home cooked meal, to someone in need,” added Landau.
Next year, Landau hopes the event grows to impact more people in the community. People can reach out to Einstein’s or contact Metrotainment Cafes directly to volunteer for Einstein’s Thanksgiving outreach.
Terry Knudsen and her husband Keith have been volunteering for three years with this effort.
“Hopefully, this day was made just a little more special for the people we served today,” said Terry. “The bonding that happens with all the different people involved in this common task is an incredible gift.”
In other news
The Ellis Hotel in Downtown Atlanta donated 50 pounds of soap and bath amenities to Clean the World’s global initiative to give hygiene products to those who lack access to these necessities. The unused bath amenities are used to create hygiene kits to be distributed to homeless shelters or sent to at-risk people in developing countries.
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