Springfield restaurant owner, Missouri Fraternal Order of police team up to serve everyday heroes

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Police, firefighters and hospital workers in Springfield will receive a free steak dinner for Christmas.

Pat Duran, the owner of several restaurants including Metropolitan Grill and Hard Knox BBQ, teamed up with the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police to say thank you to the community’s everyday heroes.

He decided to ask for the community’s support and feed about 3,000 working at Springfield’s hospitals, police department, sheriff’s office and fire stations. They received a prime rib dinner, complete with mashed potatoes, corn and a salad. Management of all the different restaurants prepared the meals today at Hard Knox BBQ. The restaurants promoted the effort on their Facebook pages, and in only about a week and a half, they raised enough money to cover more than half of the meals.

“When he told me he was going to cook 3000 meals, I was like, how in the world are you going to pull that off,” said Chris Welsh, Missouri Fraternal Order of Police. “But he really is, and appreciation of the hospital workers doing such a great job through this hard time, and he knows Springfield Police Department has had a hard year this year with our losses. And he just wanted to get this out as a way to say thank you to us.”

Hospital staff allowed volunteers to serve the meals out of the cafeterias. They will deliver meals into the evening, making sure different shifts get a chance for their prime rib Christmas dinner.

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