Pay-it-forward meal donations catch on in Ottawa Valley restaurants

Diners at the Nelson Street Pub in Pembroke, Ont., are greeted by a new sight lately: a wall of receipts for meals that are already paid for.

Part of a new pay-it-forward initiative catching on across the Ottawa Valley, the receipts go toward prepaid meals for those who otherwise couldn't afford them.

Pub owner Cory Brumm told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning that, since the initiative kicked off, plenty of patrons have spotted meals for others in need.

"They just want to help out," Brumm said. "If they can come out and enjoy a meal and some people can't — it's just nice to put it up there and have people involved in the social aspect of going out for a meal."

An estimated one in six households in Renfrew County is experiencing food insecurity, according to a 2022 health unit report.

Brumm said he hopes the initiative, now replicated in several restaurants across the valley, will help address food insecurity in the region.

'Away we went'

Brumm said he came up with the idea after he saw an American restaurant post about a similar initiative on social media.

"Why don't we do that?" he asked. "So I printed it off and put it up — and away we went."

Now the signs are stapled to the wood panelling just inside the pub's front entrance.

The signs read: "If you're hungry and have no money, these meals have been paid for in advance. Give a server the ticket and they will have the kitchen prepare your meal."

Images on social media show receipts taped to the pages, waiting for someone to claim the food.

Catching on elsewhere

Locations of The Rocky Mountain House restaurant in nearby Renfrew and Arnprior have since joined the initiative, as have other franchised restaurants in Petawawa.

Kim Limlaw, owner of The Rocky Mountain House, said a staff member brought the initiative to her attention after hearing about it on social media.

On Monday, they put up a board of their own.

Limlaw said she wasn't sure how much support the program would get, because right now money is tight for everyone.

The next morning, nine prepaid meals had already been posted.

"The generosity and outpouring at both of our locations for people purchasing meals for others has been unbelievable," she said.

Josh Curley, who co-owns Ottawa Valley Coffee with his wife Lisa Lanthier, has been doing something similar for years.

The coffee shop — with locations in Renfrew, Arnprior and Almonte — has a community board where people can post an item purchased for someone else, whether it's for someone who is struggling financially, grieving or even a single parent.

"It's got a wide range of use," Curley said. "But primarily, the goal is to help somebody in a time of need."

'Feeding families'

Brumm said a father of three recently used the free meal receipts to feed his children. In Ontario, one in five children under the age of 18 lives in a food-insecure household.

As a father of three himself, Brumm said he was "struck" by the man's situation. If their positions were reversed, he said he would appreciate the gesture.

"That right there shows me what we're doing is amazing, because we're feeding families, not just individual people," he said.

Although some of his staff initially expressed a concern about the potential for abuse of the service, Brumm said it's impossible to know by appearance alone who needs help.

"We don't want to judge anybody," Brumm said. "We don't know their back-story."