SPRINGFIELD — A local restaurant has found a unique way to give warm meals to people in their community over the holidays.
Gage Voorhees, the owner of Buckey Barn, said every food item on their menu is up for grabs for those who need a warm meal.
“I’m just trying to reach back to the community because a lot of the community supported me,” Voorhees said.
He grew up in Springfield.
His grandfather opened the restaurant in 1976 and Voorhees took it over in September.
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He said he got the idea to give away food from Facebook.
“I just kind of put it on my personal Facebook account to try and get some feedback first before I did it, it got a lot of positive feedback,” he said.
So he went through with it.
“I was very proud of him for taking this leap for this community,” Kylie Coffeey, an employee said.
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Coffeey has worked at Buckeye Barn for five years.
Voorhees said he hopes he can also take meals to a nearby homeless shelter or other places in the community.
He said right now is a trial run and he plans to keep it going through Christmas.
If it’s a success, he hopes to have it year-round.
“I trust in the community here to not take advantage of what I’m offering. I just hope that some other restaurants can help out in this way too, and maybe there will be a few less people hungry at Christmas,” he said.
Vorhees said people can pick up their food in the drive-thru but he prefers that they come inside.
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