CALHOUN, Ga —
Earlier this month, Chris Ramos and his wife, Joann, had planned to donate 500 hot dogs for an event helping the Culture Hampton Foundation, a local charity they’ve been involved with in previous years.
But when the event was suddenly canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the owners of The Frosty Kreme restaurant found themselves with a lot of food and no one to eat it.
But the giving didn’t stop there. From March 13 on, Chris and his wife have had all kinds of local families and companies want to step up and sponsor the lunches. He’s also had lots of volunteers pitch in to make the bagged lunches, and deliver them to those in need.
“They announced that schools were being shutdown, and my wife and I just kind of looked at each other and realized it could go to good use, providing kids and families with lunches who would be really needing them, since school wouldn’t be in session," Chris explained.
“The whole community has stepped up. It’s been a communal effort. All kinds of companies have been sponsoring and donating food items for the lunches – big companies like Coca Cola, and even smaller ones like tire companies, mechanic shops and churches," Chris said.
Every day Chris posts a picture and gives a shout-out to which company or family has sponsored the lunches, and also those that are volunteering for deliveries.
He says they are able to provide between 180 to 240 bagged lunches a day for those in need.
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“There are some people come to us and grab the bagged lunches, and then the others are mostly deliveries. There are a lot of people watching kids and having to babysit that can’t leave their home. So we happily deliver to them," he said.
Although it’s quite a hard and stressful time for many people, this is a great example of how people and communities are here to help and support each other.
To find out more information or how to help and donate, check out The Frosty Kreme’s Facebook page here.
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