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Jake’s Diner Kitchen Manager Jimmie Brumfield, left, and co-owner Lyle Hicks prepare ribs Friday afternoon for today’s Fourth of July Bar-B-Que, a fundraiser for the Vietnam Veterans of America.
Scott Hammers / The Bulletin
For one Bend restaurant, it’s all about helping out
Jake’s Diner is hosting one of its many charitable events today
By Scott Hammers / The Bulletin
Published: July 04. 2009 4:00AM PSTLyle Hicks and Jimmy Brumfield had no time for relaxing during the slack hours between lunch and dinner at Jake’s Diner on Friday afternoon.
Hicks, 56, co-owner of the restaurant with his wife, Judy, and Brumfield, 57, the kitchen manager, spent the time chopping and seasoning 150 pounds of pork ribs and lugging gallons of baked beans to and from the ovens.
The extra work, like so many things at Jake’s, was for a good cause. Today, the restaurant at 2210 N.E. U.S. Highway 20 hosts its fifth Fourth of July Bar-B-Que, a fundraiser for the Vietnam Veterans of America.
A Navy veteran who helped evacuate citizens of South Vietnam after the fall of Saigon, Hicks said inspiration for the event came from another veteran, Jake’s customer Ron Mercenheimer.
When Hicks moved the diner from its old location on Bend’s south end, Mercenheimer helped him remodel the new building, declining payment until the restaurant was profitable.
Hicks said that when he finally got a bill, Mercenheimer deducted the free breakfasts he’d been given during remodeling. Rather than haggle with his friend over the breakfasts, Hicks decided to create an event to generate charitable donations in Mercenheimer’s honor.
“Wherever Ron is active is where the money is going to be active,” Hicks said. “Right now, Ron’s active in the Vietnam Veterans of America — of which I’m a part of, too — but if Ron were to get active in another place and say I want the money to go someplace else, it probably would.”
Jake’s has been recognized frequently for its charitable works, most recently on Monday with the Oregon Restaurant Neighbor Award from the Oregon Restaurant Association. Earlier this year, Jake’s was picked as the Distinguished Small Business of the Year by the Bend Chamber of Commerce.
Through the year, Jake’s stages a winter food and clothing drive for the needy, donates food and cooking services for fundraiser dinners for a variety of organizations and hosts a weekly poker tournament to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.
Both Hicks and Brumfield agree that their favorite event is Jake’s annual Thanksgiving dinner.
Every year, they close down the restaurant and bring in a volunteer crew to prepare dinner for needy senior citizens.
Between meals served at the restaurant and those delivered to seniors unable to leave their homes, Jake’s fed close to 450 people last year. The Thanksgiving dinner is an extension of a program Brumfield created when he ran a restaurant in California before coming to Jake’s.
“It all stems from older people being alone at Thanksgiving. It’s something I don’t like to see,” Brumfield said. Their families are gone, or they’re out on their own and they’re the only one left. … We try not to make it like an institution. I try to make it like I used to have when I was a kid.”
Hicks said without his wife, Brumfield and all the other employees, Jake’s charitable efforts simply wouldn’t happen. He’s not actively looking for more causes, but he suspects that before long, something new will come along that he can’t help but support.
“When we see something in front of us, some need that’s there, it’s almost our responsibility to at least do what we can do to get the ball rolling,” Hicks said.
“My hope is that other businessmen in the area will see that and say, ‘Hey, this is what we’re supposed to be doing, too.’ You can imagine what all we could do cooperatively.”
The barbecue at Jake’s begins at 5:30 p.m., with an all-you-can-eat option for $14.95 and single plates for $9.95 and $8.95 for seniors or children 10 and younger. A live band will play during the event, and customers are encouraged to stick around to watch the fireworks show from Pilot Butte.
Scott Hammers can be reached at 541-383-0387 or at shammers@bendbulletin.com.
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