Customers Buy Meals for Others at Oklahoma Restaurants
2021-04-05
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1In the small town of Miami in the central U.S. state of Oklahoma, people do not have as much money as they used to.
2Many lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are even homeless.
3At two restaurants - Zack's Café and The Dawg House - customers are now doing their part to help others.
4When they are ready to pay for their meals, they can add another food item.
5On the walls in each restaurant are receipts for the donated meals.
6A receipt is a paper showing what has been purchased.
7Someone who is hungry can come in, choose a receipt, sit down and have something to eat.
8Jennifer White owns The Dawg House, which opened last September.
9She sells hot dogs with extra items like meat, cheese, and bacon.
10She started the idea of the giving wall during the pandemic.
11Within eight hours, she said she had a wall filled with receipts.
12The Dawg House only has eight tables, so not that many people can visit at one time.
13But in six months, customers have purchased 600 extra meals.
14Some who had no money at the time took down the receipts to eat and then returned to pay for more meals so someone else could eat.
15Others would buy their own meal and then pay for another 10 or 50.
16"That says a lot about how amazing our community is," White said.
17Lasay Castellano recently left Zack's Café to return to school.
18She said the restaurant serves about 600 people a day.
19And she has been putting up the receipts for two months.
20"We have a lot of homeless people here," she said.
21"We're having a hard time keeping [the receipts] on the wall."
22The town of Miami has not just been hurt by the health crisis.
23Two large snowstorms in February forced many people without homes into hotels.
24However, the town is beginning to return to normal activities.
25The area's casinos have reopened and restaurants now welcome people for in-person meals.
26White remembered when two parents came in with their children recently.
27She said, "They seemed like they had a lot going on and got to sit for an hour and a half or so to just have a meal, have fun and laugh, and not worry about how much they were having to spend."
28I'm Dan Friedell.
1In the small town of Miami in the central U.S. state of Oklahoma, people do not have as much money as they used to. Many lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are even homeless. 2At two restaurants - Zack's Café and The Dawg House - customers are now doing their part to help others. When they are ready to pay for their meals, they can add another food item. 3On the walls in each restaurant are receipts for the donated meals. A receipt is a paper showing what has been purchased. Someone who is hungry can come in, choose a receipt, sit down and have something to eat. 4Jennifer White owns The Dawg House, which opened last September. She sells hot dogs with extra items like meat, cheese, and bacon. She started the idea of the giving wall during the pandemic. Within eight hours, she said she had a wall filled with receipts. 5The Dawg House only has eight tables, so not that many people can visit at one time. But in six months, customers have purchased 600 extra meals. Some who had no money at the time took down the receipts to eat and then returned to pay for more meals so someone else could eat. Others would buy their own meal and then pay for another 10 or 50. 6"That says a lot about how amazing our community is," White said. 7Lasay Castellano recently left Zack's Café to return to school. She said the restaurant serves about 600 people a day. And she has been putting up the receipts for two months. 8"We have a lot of homeless people here," she said. "We're having a hard time keeping [the receipts] on the wall." 9The town of Miami has not just been hurt by the health crisis. Two large snowstorms in February forced many people without homes into hotels. However, the town is beginning to return to normal activities. The area's casinos have reopened and restaurants now welcome people for in-person meals. 10White remembered when two parents came in with their children recently. She said, "They seemed like they had a lot going on and got to sit for an hour and a half or so to just have a meal, have fun and laugh, and not worry about how much they were having to spend." 11I'm Dan Friedell. 12Emily Leshner and Leanne Italie wrote this story for The Associated Press. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 13How have you been helping other people during the pandemic? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 14_______________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16receipt -n. a piece of paper on which the things that you buy or the services that you pay for are listed with the total amount paid and the prices for each 17amazing -adj. causing great surprise or wonder 18casino-n. a building or room that has games (such as roulette or blackjack) for gambling