photo by: Bremen Keasey

Jefferson's workers helping kick off a food drive Wednesday that benefits Douglas County food pantry Just Food. Customers who bring in a donation of money or non-perishable food can get a $5 vouchers to the restaurant.

With Douglas County food pantry Just Food facing budget pressure from federal cuts, Lawrence’s Jefferson’s restaurants are partnering with the pantry to hold a month-long food drive.

The pantry and restaurant kicked off its “Five for Food” food drive Wednesday at the Dillons at 1015 W. 23rd St. Jefferson’s guests who want to support the food drive can contribute non-perishable items to donation barrels at both of Jefferson’s Lawrence locations or make a monetary donation at the register.

Arielle Long-Seabra, Jefferson’s director of marketing, said people who donate either one non-perishable item or $5 can get a $5 coupon that can be used at Jefferson’s. Each person can get up to four coupons, which will be valid through the end of the year.

The need for more resources has come after multiple federal programs that provided funding for food pantries were canceled by the federal government this year, as the Journal-World has reported. Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” also impacted Just Food, with leaders in June saying the cut to SNAP would be “a threat to our food system,” as the Journal-World reported.

Brandon Graham, president of Jefferson’s, said in a statement that when the restaurant heard about Just Food’s needs, it wanted to find a way to help get the word out.

“We hope this food drive rallies even more support for a cause that feeds families right here in our neighborhood,” Graham said.

Audra Walker, the executive director for Just Food, told the Journal-World that the nonprofit appreciates having local partners willing to show up and support it, and that it makes the collective impact even deeper.

Despite the budget cuts facing the pantry, Walker said in the first six months of the year, Just Food has served a total of 4,484 families and 10,405 individuals. The pantry has also seen 730 new households sign up for its services and had 59,537 unique visits. In total, Just Food has moved nearly one million pounds of food through the building, Walker said, and its food recovery program has saved over 370,000 pounds of surplus food from being sent to landfills.

Walker said Just Food is “kind of maxed out” on its budget at the moment, and said if the food drive could collect “several thousand pounds” of food over the month it would be “amazing.” She said any level of help is crucial, even something as little as putting out the call for donations on social media.

“Every dollar counts, every can counts,” Walker said.

Long-Seabra and several other Jefferson’s employees were at Dillons Wednesday morning spreading awareness about the food drive and handing out the vouchers to people who donated. Long-Seabra said being able to give back to the community is one of the best things about the job.

“It’s nice to be able to leverage our (business) for a good cause,” Long-Seabra said.