Customer keeps Florida cafe afloat by ordering 100 sandwiches a day for hospital workers
On the last day Bill's Cafe in Naples, Florida, was open before having to close down due to the coronavirus pandemic, one of the restaurant's regulars handed owner Bill Salley two envelopes.
Each one contained money, with some earmarked for Salley and the rest for his employees. "It was so nice and kind of him," Salley told WINK News, but it wasn't enough to help his restaurant survive. A week later, the customer called him with a question. "He tells me, 'Bill, would you be interested in sending 100 sandwiches a day across the street to Naples Community Hospital?'" Salley said. "Before he even finished, I said, 'I'm in.'"
The customer, who asked to remain anonymous, gave Salley about $40,000 during the time he was closed. This not only benefited Salley and his employees, but also the hospital workers, who enjoyed their free sandwiches. The customer's generosity eased what could have been a stressful situation, server Andrea Gianello said, telling WINK News "it felt good that someone genuinely cared about the community to come out and help" not only Bill's Cafe, but also the doctors and nurses.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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