RICHMOND, Va. -- A local nonprofit is taking ownership of a restaurant in Richmond's Northside with the goal of helping those in need.
The restaurant is located on Chestnut Street and currently called Golden Mart Deli, but on March 1, The Village Against Violence plans to open it as "The Village Bistro RVA."
The nonprofit says they are leasing the restaurant to raise enough money to open a shelter for people experiencing homelessness.
They plan to serve everything from comfort foods to healthy, keto-style meals and will be open every day from noon to 5 p.m. for paying customers. All of their proceeds will go towards helping those in need.
After 5 p.m., the restaurant will reopen from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to feed the needy for free.
"We really want to get people off the street. But in the meantime, you know, we look around, we drive around, we see that there's still so many homeless people, and it's cold. So we know that they're concerned about you know, COVID and then they're hungry," said the foundation's CEO Shavon Ragsdale. "So the least that we could do is try to bless these individuals with a free meal."
Until the restaurant opens on March 1, you can help the nonprofit by donating food and toiletries.
Once they are open, you can support them by ordering take-out or even purchasing an order through GrubHub.