MERIDIAN, IDAHO — Deja Brew Bistro has been giving away free Thanksgiving meals for the past four years, and despite a personal tragedy with the owner this year, the show must go on.
"Turkey, ham, stuffing, vegetable, roll, butter, pie, the whole shmear, says Deja Brew Bistro Owner, Cecyle Brock.
That's not what you'll normally find at Deja Brew Bistro, right in the middle of downtown Meridian, but every Thanksgiving for the past four years, that's the only thing you'll find there, and all for free.
"This is my favorite thing, and a lot of our crew feels the same way. It's an opportunity to give back to this community. And I love Meridian. I've lived here more or less my entire life," smiled Brock.
The annual tradition was started by Cecyle after she saw what so many of us felt during the worst part of the pandemic; loneliness.
"We started during COVID because there a lot of older people in our community who didn't have any place to go or couldn't go anywhere and weren't gonna cook. So that was our very first year," said Brock.
But for Cecyle, this year is unfortunately different. Her husband unexpectedly passed away just a few weeks ago in early November. Her Thanksgiving tradition is helping her through the pain.
"I feel like if you do stuff for others, it takes your mind off your problems. And that's kind of our thinking around here," said Brock.
Though the loss is obviously fresh on her mind, the captain behind the popular downtown restaurant still has plenty to be thankful for on Thanksgiving day.
"Just the love and the support that everyone gave me, I'm really thankful for that, and I'm also really really thankful that we can do something for someone else, and hopefully make their day better," smiled Brock.
