Sunrise Café in Middleton is turning its kitchen into the center of a community effort, making sure people know that help is available when times get tough.
"We want to do our part so that the community knows that hey, we're here and we're willing to help and support them," said Patty Ybanez, the main prep cook at Sunrise Café.
WATCH | Learn more about Sunrise Cafe's first community dinner—
Ybanez has been with Sunrise for nearly 7 years and has been working at the Middleton location for a few months. She commutes from Boise to work in the community, which she describes as reminiscent of her small-town upbringing.
"I love this community. I grew up in a small town, Melba, Idaho, and this is basically what Melba was when I was growing up, a tiny town where everybody knows everybody, everybody's friendly, we say hi," Ybanez said.
For Sunrise Café General Manager Emma DePriest, the community dinner represents more than just providing one meal.
"There's two things that I have for a mission right now. One is to feed and the other is to inspire. That's what I'm focusing on," DePriest said.
The community dinner will take place on Monday at 6 p.m., offering prepared meal boxes to anyone who needs them.
"We've got people in all of our communities, retired veterans that need assistance. We've got people with medical problems, people that really need some help," DePriest said.
The restaurant staff learned about the SNAP benefit suspension several weeks ago and immediately began planning their response.
"A few weeks ago, we heard that SNAP was not going to be distributed starting November 1st. We have families, we have single moms, we have a variety of people that are not gonna be able to have their benefits, and it's hard for them," Ybanez said.
"We've got families that come into the restaurant. They're not looking for a handout, but, you know, anything helps them. And that's what we want to provide with our dinner that's coming up... We want to provide a dinner that they can come in and eat and know that we support what's going on in our community with them," Ybanez said.
The effort showcases what's possible when neighboring communities work together, with volunteers from both Star and Middleton contributing to the cause.
"I've got a lady out in Star that's making a big pot of chili. I've got a lady that's making some homemade chocolate chip cookies. Got another lady making a big batch of macaroni and cheese," DePriest said.
DePriest emphasized that community support can come in many forms.
"One person can donate $1,000 or 1,000 people can do $1. It's just about if you can get the numbers together, what you can do," DePriest said.
Beyond feeding people, DePriest hopes the event will inspire others to take action in their own communities.
"I was sitting at home, and I was really tossing around in my head like, what can I do? How do I start? Where do I begin? And I just started tossing around some ideas and talking with some people," DePriest said.
"Communities coming together is what America is, you know, feeding the not-so-privileged. That's what America is," DePriest said.
The response from the community has been overwhelming, according to DePriest. Ybanez recognizes that resources in the small community are limited, but believes every effort counts.
"There's not a whole lot of resources other than the food banks. There's a few churches that are doing food dinners and stuff weekly as well to help with that, but this is a small town and we want to do our part so that the community knows that hey, we're here and we're willing to help and support them," Ybanez said.
The community dinner will feature multiple courses prepared with care by the restaurant staff.
"We have a dessert, we've got a main dinner. We've got a couple of different kinds of soups that I'm cooking. And you know, just a lot of support, a lot of prayer, come in and meet us. I know some of the community, I don't know all of them yet, but you know we just wanna, we want them to know that we're here, we support the,m and hopefully what we're doing helps," Ybanez said.
For Ybanez, cooking is a personal calling that drives her commitment to the community effort.
"My boss always tells me that I cook from the heart. I put my all into what I do for our customers, what we're doing for Monday. God blesses my hands to do all this because if he didn't, I wouldn't be able to do everything that I do," Ybanez said.
Beyond the special dinner, Sunrise Café maintains a year-round "Pay It Forward" wall where anyone can donate a meal or use one already paid for, no questions asked.
"We have something called a pay-it-forward wall inside, and it's there year-round. People come in, they make donations to the wall, and we don't ask any questions. If you want to come in and you want a hot meal, somebody's already got it paid for for you," DePriest said.
"You never know you're one event away from not having food on your table. Who knows what might happen? So to reach out to the people that, they're experiencing that, I think is huge," DePriest said.
The collaboration between Star and Middleton reflects a deeper community bond that extends beyond crises.
"I don't think that it's Star and Middleton working together during this tough time. I think it's Star and Middleton working together all the time," DePriest said. "We're two cities, but we're one community."
Both Ybanez and DePriest hope this dinner will be the beginning of ongoing community support efforts.
"My goal is to get the rest of the community into doing something to support our families that are around here," Ybanez said.
"God willing, this is the first of many that's going to be here to help support our families that are here," Ybanez said.
The community dinner will provide prepared meal boxes rather than a dine-in experience, making it easier for families to access help.
"You don't need to bring the whole family down. This isn't going to be a dine-in situation. This is going to be a prepared meal box, so one person can come. That's fine. We don't need any proof of anything. Just walk in, say, I have 4 family members, 2 of them are children. We're going to give you 4 dinner boxes," DePriest said.
The meal boxes will include cheeseburgers, homemade chili, homemade macaroni and cheese, homemade cornbread, and homemade chocolate chip cookies, along with water bottles and juice boxes for children.
"This isn't just a, not at all a solo effort. This is a literal community effort," DePriest said, noting that donations have already been made to support the initiative.
Ybanez hopes the dinner will provide several days' worth of meals for families in need.
"That's what our dinner is, is hopefully going to provide for a few days, you know, for a few days of food, you know, soups, chili, hamburgers," Ybanez said.
The ultimate goal extends beyond immediate relief to long-term community support.
"God willing, you know, everything gets back on track so that they can go back to what their normal lives are supposed to be, and they're not struggling so much. That's the outcome we want. We don't want them to have to struggle for their next meal," Ybanez said.
The community response comes as SNAP benefits face uncertainty due to the government shutdown. Nationally, the SNAP program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and costs $8 billion a month.
Federal judges have ordered the government to clarify whether full payments will be issued this month or partial payouts from a contingency fund, leaving millions waiting for answers.
Anyone interested in helping with future community dinners can call Sunrise Café in Middleton and leave a message for Emma DePriest.
"I really want to keep this going as long as we can. The response has been amazing, literally amazing, really heartwarming. Some good people in this community," DePriest said.
Sunrise Café is located at 200 E Main St, Middleton, ID 83644.
