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FORT COLLINS, Colo. (KDVR) — The community is rallying around a Fort Collins butcher shop offering help to those struggling to afford groceries during the federal government shutdown.
Friendly Nick’s Butcher has been open in Fort Collins for seven years. Owner Nick Chase says he has a passion for food and for making sure others have access to high-quality meats.
“It’s frustrating for me to watch people go through food insecurity, especially with my background where I’ve always cooked for people,” Chase said.
Chase says he wanted to turn his frustration into action, so he decided to post on Facebook offering free chicken, beef, pork and eggs to federal workers who are not being paid and anyone with a current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program card.
“I thought I could take 500 bucks, and I have access to meat at wholesale prices so I can stretch that a lot farther than people would at the grocery store, and I thought I could make, I don’t know, 50 bags of meat,” he said.
The post quickly gained traction and the attention of hundreds of people. More than 200 people showed up for food on Thursday. Another 200 showed up on Friday, before Nick had to post a sign saying they were “sold out” for the day.
“I’m happy that I can help. It disheartening to see. You hear that there are 42 million people on snap [but don’t realize it] until they’re line up outside your door. To put a face to that, it’s hard,” Chase said.
Each food bag contains about $15 worth of product and would sell for $25 to $30.
“The emotion on people’s faces when they get that and how much it really has helped them, it’s amazing. It’s a great feeling. But it’s also like, why is it my job to do this? It shouldn’t be. The government should be doing this,” Chase said.
Now, the community has stepped up to help. Due to demand, Chase started a GoFundMe to offset the cost of feeding everyone who needs help. As of Friday afternoon, it had already raised $30,000.
“All this money that we have we’re going to keep putting out these little packages, even after the government is reopened. Even after SNAP gets funded. That way people can hopefully have a little bit of relief,” Chase said.
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Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
