Restaurant owner Gilbert Bailly, 42, has found a novel way of keeping his business going in quake-devastated Port-au-Prince.

In the current crisis few people can afford to eat out, and Bailly did not have enough fuel or power to keep his three restaurants, called Muncheez Pizzeria, open.

Instead, he opted to keep one restaurant open by serving free meals made with donated food and fuel.

Gilbert’s nephew, who is in university in the Dominican Republic, organized to send down a truck load of food contributed by fellow university students, local businesses and World Vision.

Thanks to this shipment of food Muncheez restaurant opened its doors again shortly after the quake, serving around 1,000 free meals a day of pasta, chicken, rice and beans.

Reaching the Needy
Each day Muncheez staff distribute about 1,000 plastic bracelets in needy parts of the city. Late in the afternoon, the restaurant opens for those with a bracelet. If food is leftover afterwards some of the hundreds of people milling outside the restaurant are invited in to take part.

Starting this week, Muncheez also began handing out bags of lentils, beans and wheat flour from World Vision to departing customers, along with bottles of cooking oil.

According to Gilbert this ensures that the food reaches family members of customers who might be too badly injured to come to the restaurant themselves. “This way we won’t forget anybody,” he says.

In addition to the bags of food from World Vision, the restaurant is cooking food on site donated by the organization, since food from other sources has dwindled.

Providing Food and Hope
Among those receiving food was 15-year-old Jean-Pierre MacKenzy. He says life has been difficult since his home was badly damaged in the quake. His family is sleeping on the street and his single-mother, who has no job, is struggling to feed his sister and five brothers.

His family had been forced to rely on the goodwill of neighbors sharing their food.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” he said, referring to the plate of pasta he received. He also said his mother would be thrilled with the bags of food he was taking home with him.

Another customer, single-mother Pierre-Marie Fernande, says she escaped the collapse of her home only “by the grace of God.” She and her eight-year-old son are staying in a public park. Until she turned up at the restaurant she and her son had not eaten all day because she had no money to buy food. But after receiving her food ration she was eager to return to her son to cook him a proper meal.

“It’s time to unite.”
Gilbert says he is unable to pay his staff who all volunteer to help run the operation, but he does hope to assist those staff who have lost their homes with tents, and they also get free meals.

“Money-wise this has been disastrous for us, but I was trying to build a bridge to those suffering in the community,” he said. “It’s time to unite. We have a country to rebuild.”

Please donate today to help families recovering in Haiti.