“All About Giving Back”: Fresh Soul is giving 100 free meals to the Spokane community

This is the second year the soul food restaurant has prepared meals for the needy on Thanksgiving morning.

SPOKANE, Washington – It was an early Thanksgiving morning for Michael C. Brown and his three volunteers.

Before they opened their doors at 9 a.m., they had to do some preparatory work

“It takes about three hours of prep. We prepared yesterday and this morning,” said Brown.

Brown is the managing director of the Spokane Eastside Reunion Association, which runs the soul food restaurant Fresh Soul. He would open the doors to Fresh Soul on Thanksgiving morning, but not a normal meal service.

The group worked to prepare 100 take-away meals that could be distributed to those in need on Thanksgiving morning from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Meals included freshly made ribs, corn, potato salad, and cornbread. There was a $ 50 envelope on top of the food in the to-go containers.

All the work comes from trying to give something back to the community.

“I just want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving,” said Brown. “I think this is probably one of the most important days of the year that brings families, individuals, and those without families together. You can still come to places like this for something to eat.”

Brown and his three volunteers set up food for their 9am opening. A queue had formed at the door and one by one people entered Fresh Soul, alone or with their families, for a hot, free meal.

This is the second year in a row that Brown has made meals to eat on Thanksgiving, and he wants to make it a tradition.

“We did it last year and we want to make it an ongoing trend. This is all about giving back,” Brown said. “God put it on my heart and I will.”

After the initial rush, people came to eat sporadically. Everyone was grateful for the food.

“It’s actually really great because I just moved into the area,” said Chris Knudsen. “I have neither family nor friends here at the moment. So this is a real blessing for me today. “

Brown also said he plans to distribute remaining meals to those in need downtown by 11 a.m.

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