DAR gives back to the community with free meals

The staff of the Daily American Republic gave back to the community Saturday by serving free meals to anyone stopping by its offices wanting to a “have a meal on us.”

The modes of transportation varied from cars and trucks to scooters and bicycles, with others arriving on foot.

Each left with meals for themselves and/or their families. The meal consisted of a hot dog, potato salad, chocolate chip cookies and a drink.

“It was such a blessing to be able to do work for the community today,” said Business Manager Rachel Coleman. “Seeing the smiling faces, excited kids and excited pets as they walked or drove through the line to collect their lunch made my Saturday.”

Working alongside her co-workers, Coleman said, they served almost 500 meals to the community.

“We purchased enough food for 500 meals,” said DAR Publisher Chris Pruett. “We gave away about 450 and took the rest to the United Gospel Rescue Mission.”

The meals were scheduled to be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., but “people started lining up before 10, so we started serving at 10:30,” he said.

“We had people show up by vehicle, bicycle, scooter and on foot,” Pruett said. “Everyone was invited, and we are delighted with how many people participated.”

Maybe the best story of the day, according to Pruett, was a great-granddaughter, who said her grandfather had been telling her for the past two weeks he needed her to drive to Poplar Bluff from Jackson and pick him up the free meal.

“He was so thankful for what we were doing, and that made the entire day worthwhile,” said Pruett, who was overwhelmed by the turnout.

“We reached out to many organizations and shared we wanted to do something for our community considering how tough the COVID-19 pandemic has been on families,” Pruett said. “Food pantries are running low on items regularly, and our DAR family wanted to do something to help.”

The hope for the day was that “we could be a blessing to some; it turns out, the people we met today were a true blessing to us,” said Christy Pierce, DAR advertising director. “Five hundred meals served today to our wonderful community.”

Coleman is hopeful the DAR can make this an annual event.

“I’m so proud of our DAR employees for donating a portion of their weekend to help others,” Pruett said. “The newspaper is a major part of the community, and we believe in helping others whenever possible.

“Some of the employees were already talking about what kind of project the newspaper could do in the coming months.”