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Sandston Smokehouse owner Bobby Haller is the second recipient of U.S. Congressman Donald McEachin’s Thank-A-Neighbor program.
Haller helped hatch an idea that became the Nourish Henrico program – an initiative through which Henrico County’s government is paying for each of its 800 or so frontline workers (public safety, public health and public utilities) to purchase one meal per shift of up to $15 from participating locally owned Henrico restaurants.
The Citizen first reported about the effort last month and detailed its impact earlier this week.
Nourish Henrico has helped a number of Henrico restaurants stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am thrilled that Mr. Haller took his idea to Henrico County government and that they were able to work together to develop this wonderful program,” said McEachin. “This way, essential county employees do not have to worry about where they can buy food and the county can help support locally owned businesses. Because of Mr. Haller’s idea and Henrico County’s willingness to listen, more business owners can continue to pay their staff in a time of uncertainty.”
Said Haller: “We decided when this pandemic started to focus on being able to provide for the first responders, knowing they would be having a hard time getting hot meals with businesses closing down. Ireached out to our county district representative, Tyrone Nelson, with this idea that it could possibly help us produce some revenue and help keep our doors open, and it grew rapidly into the Nourish Henrico program. We have been blessed by our community support and this program to be able to allow some employees to have an opportunity to continue to provide for their families during this time.”
More information about Nourish Henrico, including instructions for how other locally owned Henrico restaurants can sign up to participate in the program, is available at https://henrico.us/restaurants.
Constituents of Congressman McEachin may nominate someone for Thank-A-Neighbor by e-mailing VA04.Projects@mail.house.gov.
