“This is a tough, sad time for the state, the city, the world,” Portland businessman Barry Menashe says of the coronavirus pandemic.

So he’s going to do something about it.

Menashe, 66, owner of Menashe Properties, and his grown children, Jordan and Lauren, plan to hit the streets on foot Thursday to hand out 1,500 $75 New Seasons gift cards at random. Among the locations they’re planning to head to: Gresham, Southeast Portland, the Portland State University campus, downtown Portland near Nordstrom, and Raleigh Hills. “Different places where we have buildings,” Menashe said.

“There’s no qualifying, no conversations,” Menashe said. “Just, here.”

Menashe said he had considered choosing a single location for the giveaway. “But I didn’t want a congregation of people because that’s not what the city wants,” he said.

Asked about possible transmission of the virus via the giveaway, Menashe said he and his children would avoid physical contact as they handed out the gift cards.

This isn’t the first time Menashe has done a big giveaway. In 2011, he handed out 340 pairs of socks, 240 pairs of gloves, 216 knit hats and 100 wool blankets to anyone who wanted them.

Menashe said he doesn’t personally know anyone who’s tested positive for coronavirus.

It’s just that he feels sick about what he’s reading and hearing.

“It’s a no brainer,” he said. “We feel good about it and some people will greatly appreciate it, we believe.”

“I think people need to step up and help where they can. We have the resources.”

If the giveaway goes well Thursday, Menashe said, he may repeat it Friday.

awang@oregonian.com; Twitter: @ORAmyW

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