O'FALLON, Mo. — An O'Fallon restaurant known for giving away thousands of meals for Thanksgiving is switching the way it does things this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Brass Rail Steakhouse owner Scott Ellinger fed 10,000 people for Thanksgiving in 2019. Although the coronavirus pandemic is ongoing, that's not stopping him from feeding thousands this year.
One change this year is that the meals will only be available in St. Charles County.
“We are concerned the St. Louis Health Department might implement the stay- at-home order again and we will not be able to deliver. So rather than take orders we might not be able to fulfill, we made the very difficult choice to limit the radius. We know this affects and disappoints so many of the people we desperately want to help, but we promise, next year, we’ll be back at it in full force,” Ellinger said.
Ellinger is looking for another 2,000 people to feed to meet his goal of donating and delivering 3,500 Thanksgiving dinners in St. Charles County. The only qualification for receiving a free meal is to express a need. St. Charles County residents can call 636-329-1349 to reserve a meal.
Another change this year due to St. Charles County Health Department restrictions on social distancing, this will be the first time since 2014 the restaurant can not offer its popular walk-in Thanksgiving buffet. Owner Scott Ellinger had hoped to feed a grand total of 15,000 in need this year.
“Because of the virus, we’ve had to plan for the worst-case scenario and that scenario is that the St. Charles Health Department limits the number of people that can gather in one location,” Ellinger said.
Ellinger also has to limit the number of volunteers this year. Thousands of people over the years have made it a tradition to volunteer.
“There is no way we could pull this off every year without the community’s help and we are so very grateful. If you want to volunteer to be a driver, please let us know as soon as possible.”
For more information on volunteering, making a cash donation or reserving a meal, contact The Brass Rail at 636-329-1349. Meals and volunteer slots are on a first-come, first-served basis, Ellinger said.
Ellinger is asking for the following donations:
- 1,000 standard bankers' boxes
- 1,500 1-gallon Ziploc bags
- 1,000 1-quart Ziploc bags
- 10 rolls of packing tape
