EDGEWATER — Local Thai eatery Herb will offer free meals to the community this weekend thanks to a program that gives restaurants grants for feeding peple in need.
Herb, 5424 N. Broadway, will provide free meals 5-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, according to the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce. The meals are available to frontline workers, community and non-profit employees, restaurant staff and people in need of a hot meal.
Meals will be available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.
The free meal program is made possible by High Road Kitchens, a nationwide campaign to boost restaurants during the pandemic by paying them to feed the community. High Road Kitchens launched in December in December, providing $1 million to local restaurants that had lost business during the pandemic and committed to providing free meals.
Restaurants in the program get a $5,000 grant for every 500 free meals served, with a maximum grant size of $30,000, according to High Road Kitchens.
The free meal program is the effort of One Fair Wage, a national campaign that seeks to raise the minimum wage. Herb and other grant recipients must commit to paying at least $15 an hour in non-tipped wages by 2026.
Herb also provided free meals last weekend.
Herb was opened in 2014 by chef-owner Patty Neuson and is known for its elevated take on Thai cuisine. Neuson is offering her signature Thai dishes as free meals, but she will also provide Italian and American meals for those seeking a different cuisine, she said in a statement.
“I see people who are cold and wet and working so hard that it breaks my heart to think that they may not be able to provide themselves with a healthy, warm meal,” Neuson said in a statement. “I want to do what I can to help them.”
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