Turning “The Table” to provide food for service industry workers
COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Two Columbus restaurant owners said enough is enough and decided to take care of their own, specifically the servers who may no longer have a job or are struggling to make ends meet because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sangeeta Lakhani, owner of The Table, said they are now using their resources to cook for hundreds of servers in Columbus. One mom said the meal she picked up on Tuesday picked up her spirit.
“It makes me want to cry because it’s nice that people are thinking about, ‘Hey you need somebody to take care of you now,'” said Amanda Lynch, a single mother who worked at a Clintonville bakery for 15 years.
She is stopping at The Table to get food for her and her daughter who is home from school thanks to the coronavirus.
“She also has a significant and multiple disabilities,” Lynch said. “It’s been really hard for me to get it together to do all of the things.”
She said these free meals she received will go a long way because there are times where she eats cake as a meal.
Sangeeta Lakhani and Matthew Heaggans, chef and co-owner at Ambrose and Eve, came together after realizing hospitality and service employees need someone to serve them during this time of need. In order to do this, the duo launched Service!, a relief effort to help those workers.
“No restaurant will be where it is today without the service industry doing what they do,” Lakhani said. “Three weeks ago, I was a mess and I could not get through a conversation without balling because all I could think about was my restaurant.”
But now Lakhani is thinking about everyone else and giving service industry workers a free meal everyday at two locations in Columbus with a revolving menu.
Things have changed for Lakhani even though the tables are clear in her restaurant and the seats are empty. She’s found a purpose during this pandemic.
“I’m doing something,” Lakhani said. “I’m doing something beyond myself, bigger than myself.”
The hope is that through this initiative, Service! can serve 400 people a day. Here’s a link to the website to signup for meals https://servicerelief.org/