Despite having to close its diner sooner than anticipated, a local family-owned restaurant in Columbus is honoring a promise it made to the community last week.
It’s a promise that is helping families stay fed during dinner hours while unemployment numbers rise as a result of COVID-19.
All week, Rohde’s Family Diner, 1644 Orinoco Ave., has been offering free soup to local residents from 5 to 7 p.m.
By the end of Tuesday, the restaurant, co-owned by Jon and Sarah Rohde, had given out around 80 meals.
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“Our family has always been centered around service,” Jon Rohde said. “When this all started going on, we discussed and prayed about finding the best way to help out. We saw that the schools and others were joining together to put together meals for children that were out of school for breakfast and lunch. As we prayed about it, we realized we didn’t see a lot of free during the dinner time. We saw that as a need to fill.”
The couple said there were repeat customers on the second day, signaling the need for free dinner services for the entire week.
In order to comply with the safety recommendations due to the pandemic, the Rohdes have created a unique system for handing out food.
Visitors are asked to pull up in front of the diner where they are asked if they would like chili, loaded baked potato soup or vegetable soup, which is made by Sarah. Once the orders reach the kitchen, a member of the Rohde family delivers the requested number of bags in paper bags to the driver.
Last week, the couple had planned on keeping the diner open despite Gov. Eric Holcomb’s ordinance mandating that all restaurants limit themselves to carry-out and delivery services. After weighing options, the family announced via social media Monday to close down until dine-in services could resume.
Some families are scrambling to figure out their finances as more and more businesses close because of the pandemic.
In response to the coronavirus, there were 690 first-time unemployment claims filed in the Columbus area during the week ending March 21, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. That figure, attributed to restrictions placed on bars and restaurants by Gov. Eric Holcomb, is a staggering 4,500% jump from the 17 initial claims filed the previous week.
{span class=”oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 qv66sw1b c1et5uql a8c37x1j s89635nw ew0dbk1b jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id” dir=”auto”}Rather than backing out on its offer to serve the community, the couple checked to make sure that they could still give out food as long as they met the governor’s requirements for social distancing.{/span}
“We made a commitment to help people during the evenings,” Jon Rohde said. “We’re going to make sure that we honor that commitment since we have the ability to help others.”
The couple hopes to give out many more meals to those in need before the weekend.
“We want to get the word out that we have the capacity to serve many more,” Jon Rohde said.
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Rohde’s Family Diner, 1644 Orinoco Ave., is offering free soup for carry-out through Friday evening from 5 to 7 p.m. The free meals are available for anyone. In order to comply with the safety recommendations due to the pandemic, people are asked to pull up in front of the diner on and someone from the family will bring the food to them.
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