Restaurant Owner Is Providing Hundreds Of Free Meals Daily To Help Iowa Storm Victims

August 22, 2020

A restaurant owner in Iowa is feeding hundreds of people for free after a 14-hour storm ravaged the community.

restaurant owner feeding storm victims free
Willie Fairley

The derecho storm hit the Midwest with hurricane-force winds topping 100 miles per hour, destroying or severely damaging thousands of homes, schools and businesses. Millions of people have been without power throughout Iowa and Illinois.

As the community struggles to recover, barbeque restaurant owner Willie Fairley is using his grill at Willie Ray's Q Shack to provide his neighbors with at least 400 meals daily at no cost.

"It's terrible right now. You got a lot of people still without power," Fairley told CNN. "We're just trying to do what we can as a company to make sure we did our part. Because if it was me home with nothing. I would want someone to at least be able to provide something for me."

Fairley has provided at least a thousand free grilled meals to the community, including ribs, chicken, burgers and hot dogs.

Fairley has been offered at least 15 catering jobs, but declined saying, "money will come but people are in need right now."

"The main reason we're doing it free is because there's been a lot of people donate to us to help us keep feeding people. So, we figure we'll just do it to make sure everybody gets something."