Local business ‘adopts’ a restaurant to keep it afloat during closures

Emily Oliver by Emily Oliver, Kyle Simchuk

SPOKANE, Wash. — There are a lot of things people can adopt these days, from highways, to endangered species.

Now, you can add restaurants to the list.

Watts 1903 opened just last month. They hired 24 employees and were building traction.

“We were finally starting to get a little busier,” said Manager Kelsey Strom. “And then it came to an abrupt stop.”

Strom says they had to lay off most of their employees.

“There’s just not the hours to go around, unfortunately,” said Strom.

Like all the other restaurants still open during the coronavirus closures, Watts 1903 is serving take out, so when the phone rang Wednesday morning, Strom thought it could just be another order.

“It just didn’t make sense what he was saying,” said Strom. “He said ‘we’d like to adopt you.’ And so, you know, it was a little confusing.”

The call came from across the street, from an employee at Occam Video Solutions. Their company wanted to help.

“They want to start an adopt a restaurant movement where businesses that are able to can support their neighboring restaurants,” said Strom.

The company agreed to buy a $500 gift card every week until the restaurant can fully open back up.

“Every employee in their building can come over and use that gift certificate for lunch or dinner,” said Strom.

The coronavirus situation will eventually end, and so will the mandatory closures. Some restaurants are just hoping they’re still around to see that day.

“I’m hoping that other businesses follow suit and support their neighboring restaurants because we’re all- it’s going to be tough for all of us,” said Strom.

RELATED: Coronavirus Guide: Staying up-to-date on cases, who to call and how to prepare

READ: All closures and cancellations amid COVID-19 outbreak

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