On the morning of Saturday, July 20, Josh Bennett, the owner of ChefWhat, posted on social media that he had just started a “Pay It Forward” wall in which customers can prepay for a meal that someone less fortunate can get later.
He began hanging the prepaid “Guest Check” tickets on a board his wife, Amy, had brought in that morning with the hope that people in need would come in to his restaurant when they’re hungry, take a ticket off the wall, and get a hot meal, no questions asked.
Even before the first day of his new project was over, the community response was already “overwhelming,” Bennett said.
“Within hours we had enough donations to fill the board,” he said.
By the third day—on Wednesday because ChefWhat is closed Sunday and Monday—enough people had paid it forward for two boards to be filled with tickets, he said.
On Saturday, one person got a free meal; on Tuesday, two people; and Wednesday, two people, Bennett said.
“They’re so grateful,” Bennett said. “You can see tears in their eyes.”
Bennett said some time ago he’d seen a video of a restaurant in a different town doing this, and it stuck with him. He didn’t immediately implement the “Pay It Forward” wall, though.
A little later he was having a conversation with his wife about starting the program, and 30 minutes after they talked, a man called asking for help.
“He didn’t have any money and he wouldn’t be able to feed his kids on that weekend,” Bennett said. Amy told him it was a sign.
A month or so later—July 20—she came to the restaurant with the board, and they hung it on the wall, thus starting “Pay It Forward” at ChefWhat.
Bennett believes, and even hopes, his initiative has some ripple effects, for what he’s doing at his restaurant and maybe other restaurants in Henderson. He said he’s not aware of any other local eateries currently offering this, but he thinks it could catch on.
Bennett also can see that this small service currently done in-house could expand to some sort of delivery, especially if volunteers, say retirees, would like to drive meals to people. It makes sense, he said.
“If they don’t have money to eat, a lot of people won’t have money for transportation, either,” he said.
When he started ChefWhat several years ago, Bennett was taken aback by some of the firsthand knowledge he gained as a restaurant owner. First, he didn’t realize the amount of homelessness in Henderson, and second, he didn’t truly realize just how many people are struggling in the community, he said.
He witnesses these conditions through those who come into his restaurant and the calls he receives, he said.
“It’s more than I ever imagined,” he said.
Bennett said those who want to use the Pay It Forward wall will probably have the best luck during his lunch hours of 10 a.m.-1 p.m. He said most days he sells out at lunch and doesn’t open for supper hours. ChefWhat is open Tuesday through Saturday. It is located at 422 Seventh St.
Bennett said he’s not worried about being taken advantage of, as in people who don’t need the food taking a ticket.
“It’s not my job to judge,” he said. “That’s between them and God.”
Bennett said he’s always tried to help when people called needing food. But with the “Pay It Forward” wall, he believes the restaurant will be able to provide more assistance. He said he’s blessed and happy to have the platform to help.
“I hope we can help more people now than what we had been doing,” he said.
