North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper made the decision Tuesday to close all restaurants and bars for dine-in service to try and slow the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, greatly affecting workers in those industries who rely on hourly wages and tips to make ends meet.
Chris Creech, the co-owner of the Glass Jug Beer Lab in Durham, recently spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck about the plans he and his team have put together to help those who are affected. The Glass Jug is collecting donations and non-perishable foods for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, while also collecting cleaning supplies for the Durham Rescue Mission — a non-profit organization helping the addicted and the homeless community in the greater Durham area.
Even before Cooper limited the restaurant industry to exclusively takeout and delivery orders only, Creech was ahead of the curve in recognizing what was to come.
“As soon as we got word that public schools were starting to close, the first thing that came to our mind is what about all the free and reduced breakfast and lunch these kids get?” Creech said. “Thankfully, a lot of the school systems around here have also realized that and have stepped up and are still providing meals.
“But there are lots of people — not just kids — but when we talk hourly workers, or those working in the service industry or living paycheck to paycheck that may not be able to provide food and need to rely on these services that maybe they didn’t have to rely on before then,” he added.
In addition to the need for meals, it’s also important for Creech to make sure a place like the Durham Rescue Mission can receive the cleaning supplies it needs — especially given the way paranoia has caused those items to disappear off the shelves at grocery stores.
“We’re all being told not to gather in crowds, but places like the Durham Rescue Mission — these folks don’t have anywhere else to go,” Creech said. “They’re forced to be in an overcrowded situation, which is an unfortunate reality that we have regardless of the pandemic. But now that we’re in a situation like this, it’s even more important for those places to be able to keep up good sanitation.”
When it comes to his own business, Creech acknowledged the difficulties in trying to find outside aid for his employees. While the Glass Jug is able to remain open in a limited capacity, however, his goal is to find other duties or projects for the staff—with the hope of not having to send anyone on leave.
As of right now, the retail portion of the store remains open. Call-ahead orders for curbside pickup are also still in action, while the addition of a local delivery option was just added on Friday.
“Whether it’s maintenance and cleaning around the shop, new projects we’ve been wanting to do, things that have been put on the back-burner, how can we go ahead and do them now while we have the time and use the staff we have?” Creech said. “It may not be the things that are normally in their job description, but if we can’t bartend, we can find something else to get some value out of them and send them home with a paycheck.”
Creech said to this point, the donation drive has been a great success for The Glass Jug. He initially put out one keg bucket to fill with items, and ended up filling three as donations continued to pour in over the first few days.
An initial deadline of Sunday, Mar. 22 was set by Creech for donations, but with such a great response by the community, there is a chance of an extension.
“We very well may extend that,” Creech said. “If you still want to keep bringing stuff by, we will happily drive it over to the Rescue Mission and the Food Bank.
“The more, the merrier,” he added. “We will fill up as many cars as we need to, to get it where it needs to go.”
For more information on The Glass Jug and its efforts, visit their website.
Photo via the Glass Jug Beer Lab.
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