KETTERING — A Kettering restaurant completed its final day of serving free meals to families in need.
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The Blue Berry Cafe started serving free meals during the government shutdown and has cost them close to nothing.
Owner Kelley Andary, co-owner of The Blue Berry Cafe, said her friend at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was feeling the impact of the shutdown, which prompted the free meals.
“It just got me thinking, you know, maybe we could do something small. And the small thing for us is food,” said Andary.
Andary said she didn’t know how impactful the meals would be for families.
“We didn’t know how it would be received, so we set a goal of 200 meals,” said Andary.
Customers saw what The Blue Berry Cafe was doing and started donating money to help.
The meals went from being completely funded by the owners to being funded by customers who donated.
“They can send their dollars anywhere, and they choose us because they know that when we can and when it’s needed, we’ll be there for our communities,” said Andary.
Out of the budget, the Blueberry Cafe only spent about $2 to make each meal due to the donations they received.
Andary said they kept it simple for those who needed a free meal.
The only rule they had was one meal per person.
“Through the front door, and they just tell us how many,” said Andary.
She said that if they had kids, they would throw in little snacks with each meal as well.
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