For business owners statewide, it’s hard to believe one month has passed since their lives were abruptly turned upside down, when Gov. Tom Wolf announced mitigation efforts to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Restaurants were tasked with transitioning to takeout and delivery only, while non-essential spots had to temporarily close their doors.
To say it’s been hard, both mentally and financially, is an understatement. Still, local owners continue to step up to the plate during this unprecedented time, coming to the aid of community members and employees alike.
The Times recently caught up with several of these selfless individuals, including Irene Johns, owner of Aussie’s Kitchen Meal Prep LLC in Penndel; Jennifer Runyon, co-founder of Stumpy’s Hatchet House of Bucks County in Bristol; and Newtown’s Sheena Monk, creator of Sloos.
Despite significantly minimizing store hours from five days to two, helping neighbors in need never left the forefront of Johns’ mind. Before the pandemic struck, Aussie’s Kitchen donated leftover meals to nearby food banks and homeless shelters on a regular basis. But when Johns discovered these locations weren’t accepting donations on Mondays (her business’s new last day of the week, as opposed to Saturday), an idea occurred.
“I thought about the nurses and the staff at the hospitals. They’re putting their lives on the line for us,” Johns said.
Over the last few weeks, thanks to monetary donations from Never Surrender Hope and Henkels & McCoy Inc., Aussie’s Kitchen donated food to health care workers at St. Mary Medical Center, Jefferson Torresdale Hospital and Abington Hospital.
“They’re so thankful that they’re actually getting a healthy meal. That’s their biggest thing, not having to worry about grabbing takeout. They’re beyond thrilled to have a healthy meal, some salads,” Johns said. “It’s just been so wonderful. It’s so amazing that everyone’s coming together amidst this craziness.”
Aussie’s Kitchen is donating an average of 200 meals a week to hospitals and elderly residents who cannot safely shop at the grocery store. Johns reflected on one woman who was so grateful, she sent a hand-written “thank you” letter and bottle of hand sanitizer, or, as Johns called it, “liquid gold.”
As for Runyon, she and co-owner Mike Keeley shut down the non-essential Stumpy’s Hatchet House on March 15.
“We left with a rowdy crowd,” she reflected. “We actually had a very busy week. I think a lot of people knew it was coming. We were actually having probably one of our best months since we opened.”
While the majority of Stumpy’s employees have other jobs at essential businesses, Runyon and Keeley are making sure they don’t forget about their second ax-throwing home.
“We touch base with them at least every couple days. We’ve had a few of our employees go in and make videos while they’re there by themselves, offered the place up for any sort of private dates,” Runyon said, adding that a virtual team happy hour was also on the schedule. “We’re in a weird business. Our employees are not just replaceable. They have a skill that is very important to us. We’re going to need those employees to bring back their friends and the clients that are basically our family. I don’t want anybody to forget about us.”
Runyon admitted that business may be slow at first when Stumpy’s is permitted to reopen.
“A lot of it with the non-essentials is the expendable income. That is my biggest thing. I think people are going to really want to come out, but there’s a lot of unemployment right now,” she said.
To help counter this, Stumpy’s will run grand reopening specials. Currently, it’s selling gift cards for 25 percent off, which Runyon hopes will be utilized by companies looking to boost morale with team events when life goes back to normal.
“Hopefully, we can get everybody back up and throwing axes at our place,” she said.
Last but not least, Monk, a pro racecar driver, recently launched Sloos – a free app that provides up-to-the-minute information on Bucks County restaurants that are open for takeout, delivery and more. With so many openings and closures happening daily, the app helps locals find what’s available on that day, all in one spot.
According to Monk, this wasn’t her original intention for the app.
“I created Sloos to provide an easy way for people to find fun things to do in their free time, and to help businesses drum up foot traffic on slow nights while being transparent to their customer base,” she explained. “But in this new environment, there’s so much more at stake. We have a responsibility to support our local restaurants and connect them with as many customers as possible, by providing information on where and how to get food and drinks in the area, in real-time.”
Additionally, Sloos hosts regular gift card giveaways so that people can use them to purchase takeout and support small businesses. Monk is also working with several area restaurants to purchase catered meals for hospital workers.
Visit aussieskitchenmealprep.com, stumpyshh.com/buckscountypa and getsloos.com for more information.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
