Local restaurants feed masses to support WL-S shooting victim
In just a little more than a week since the tragic shooting at West Liberty-Salem High School, local eaters have taken down more than 1,250 roast beef sandwiches and enough pulled pork to serve 1,000 is being prepared for a Monday night feast.
Shannon Stratton, left, picks up an order of five Logan sandwiches from the Marketplace Café, owned by Rob Nicholson, center, at noon Friday. The restaurant is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from the sandwich that shares a name with West Liberty-Salem school shooting victim Logan Cole, to the Cole family. As of noon Friday, sandwich sales had generated $10,963. (EXAMINER PHOTO | REUBEN MEES)
The money raised, which may well exceed $25,000 when all the plates are cleaned, will be given to the family of Logan Cole, who is recovering from the wounds he sustained in the attack on the morning of Jan. 20.
Rob Nicholson, who owns the Marketplace Café in downtown Bellefontaine, felt the impact the tragedy had on the community and knew almost instantly what he wanted to do to help.
“I think everybody felt it,” the restaurateur said. “The whole community felt the tragedy. It touched ids and families in Bellefontaine as well as those in West Liberty.”
The café already had a Logan sandwich on the menu so Mr. Nicholson decided he would donate for the full $8.75 sandwich price paid by customers to the family. By noon Friday, the café had sold 1,253 sandwiches for a total of $10,963. And they continue to sell the sandwiches from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and Sunday.
And when that fundraiser wraps up, those still hungry for charitable eating will have another plate to clean as Keith Hardwick of Don’s Downtown Diner prepares a pulled pork meal from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at West Liberty-Salem Schools. Only 1,000 meals will be prepared that night and Mr. Hardwick said he expects they will go quickly. Cost is by donation.
Although his diner is downtown Bellefontaine, Mr. Hardwick lives in West Liberty and his four children attend school at WL-Salem.
“We just want to bless the Cole family and show them we love and support them,” Mr. Hardwick said of the fundraiser. “At first I would have never dreamt that something like this could have happened in West Liberty — a town of 1,700 people.”
He said as a parent, he believes the school’s staff and student body were as prepared as they could have been and handled the situation well.
“I asked my kids if they were scared about going back this week and they said, ‘Absolutely not,’” the father said. “There is a peace in their spirit about them.”
Sofia, age 11, who was helping at the restaurant on Friday, said she is at peace with the situation now, but that day was a different story.
“I do now,” she said in response to her father’s inquiry if she was at peace with the incident, “but at that moment, no way. We were scared; it was like a train wreck. We were climbing out windows and running across fields and calling our parents on our cell phones. It was scary.
“But I am peaceful about it now.”
Shannon Stratton and Robb Armentrout said their bosses at Osgood State Bank sent them on a sandwich run to the Marketplace Café to treat their employees and benefit the cause.
As a mother of WL-Salem students, Ms. Stratton said she has been moved by the outpouring of support from the community and rests assured that her children are safe at school.
“I think this is fantastic,” she said as she picked up the order. “My kids go to West Liberty, so it means a lot to me that businesses are doing this.
“As a parent, it was by far the scariest moment of my life. But I think the school did everything right and they’re all heroes. It does make you hug your kids a little tighter in the morning, though.”
In addition to the businesses, several volunteers also got involved with the effort, Mr. Nicholson said.
“We had Mayor Ben Stahler in here washing dishes (Thursday),” he said, as Lea Del Hurley of Huntsville’s Hurley Farm Markets busied herself serving meals on Friday. About 15 total volunteers helped with the effort, Mr. Nicholson said.
The business, which is typically open seven days a week, will be closed on Monday to allow the staff to recuperate, he said.
In addition to the food fundraisers, two gofundme.com accounts have been set up, which had $12,470 and $5,116 pledged as of Friday night. Donations are also being accepted at Quest Community Church in West Liberty.