As a youngster, Sam Saberi saw firsthand the struggle everyday families sometimes feel trying to make ends meet and put food on the table.
During a particularly rough time for the family, they were too afraid to ask for help and his father took multiple jobs, working 20 hours a day just to provide the basics.
Now, as owner of Tina’s Grill, the popular restaurant in Aurora’s southwest, Saberi is working hard to help families stave off hunger and erase any sort of stigma in the process.
Inspired by a restaurant in Pembroke, ON, Tina’s Grill and its customers are pooling resources to provide meals for local families in need.
Since mid-November, customers have been invited to “pay it forward” by purchasing a meal for less fortunate community members. The pre-purchased meals are now displayed on a board within the restaurant, and those who in need can come in, take a chit off the display and have their meals cooked hot and fresh. For each customer donation, Tina’s Grill is matching the funds to double the impact within Aurora.
Tina’s Grill had more than $800-worth of donations on the board ready to be used.
“People can come in, grab something off the menu – or multiple things off the menu – and pay for it for people who are hungry, can’t afford dinner, or people who are just having trouble right now,” Saberi explains. “They can give the chits to our servers who take it into the kitchen where it is made for them right there and then. I have already had eight people who were in need for dinner use it and people contribute to buying dinners – with any monetary donations matched to add more to the list. We will match every single penny of it through to the end of December. Whatever is left over, we [plan to take it] to Welcoming Arms and other organizations we know who are in need of food.”
After getting that initial seed of an idea from the Pembroke restaurant, Saberi’s efforts to fill the need locally have since gone viral.
He encourages other restaurants in the area to follow suit as it not only helps the community but local business as well.
“It’s a win-win situation,” he says. “You’re giving back to the community for a great cause and it will come back to you some way or another, for sure. I think Aurora and Newmarket is the greatest community on Earth and why I started this is my family was there, we almost lost everything, and I know what it feels like to be young and not have everything and it’s the worst feeling in the world. I don’t think anyone should feel that.
“And I don’t want people to be shy about it. If you come in here, you will get a meal. We won’t look down on you. We won’t look at you differently. We will treat you like any other customer. Just come on in, pick your food, sit down if you want to eat it here, or take it home. If all the restaurant owners (in this area) came together to do this, it might be a huge impact for people in need."
Brock Weir is a federally funded Local Journalism Initiative reporter at The Auroran
