Unity restaurant's holiday meal distribution continues for 2nd week

Sharky’s Cafe is making sure Latrobe-area families that are in need start out 2021 with a full portion at dinnertime.

With the help of donations received from loyal customers, friends and generous community members, the Unity restaurant distributed several hundred free Christmas meals last week to area families.

On Wednesday, some 300 additional donated dinners will roll out of the Sharky’s kitchen, in time for New Year’s celebrations — for a total of about 600 meals served during the two holiday weeks.

Restaurant co-owner Jamie Huemme originally hoped to raise enough money to cover the cost of 210 meals, but the response exceeded her expectations when she sought donations for the effort through social media.

“The word really got out there and spread,” she said. “So many of our great customers called up and donated. It was amazing. The donations just kept coming in.”

The restaurant contributed about 100 of the dinners featuring ham, potatoes, corn, salad, bread and butter.

“We have almost 20 volunteers from the community volunteering to package up everything,” Huemme said, up from the dozen who pitched in at the restaurant last week.

Sharky’s turned to the local Salvation Army corps and the Latrobe Rotary Club Food For Thought Backpack Program to identify recipients for the meals.

For 32 weeks each year, the backpack program provides weekend meals for 160 less fortunate children attending the three elementary schools of Greater Latrobe School District, according to Jerry Supko, who chairs the 6-year-old program.

The program normally doesn’t operate during the Christmas break from school. So, the Sharky’s effort “was a huge help,” Supko said. “It fulfilled the need on a long holiday weekend.”

Huemme considers the successful meal campaign “a nice springboard into 2021” as “everyone is very anxious to say goodbye to 2020. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. There’s a lot of good still out there.”