Purveyor of pub grub Lokál has teamed up with area organizations devoted to reintegrating the homeless into society to launch a pay-it-forward lunch project in Prague.
Much like the popular “hanging coffee” initiative, Coffeeshare, which lets café patrons purchase hot drinks for those who can’t afford them, “Lunch for the next one” will appear as a menu item at Lokál branches throughout Prague, allowing restaurant guests to add a 90-CZK meal to their tab.
Lokál will then donate, in the form of vouchers, lunches to Pragulic homeless tour guides, Nový Prostor magazine vendors, and the domestic violence survivors of Jako Doma women’s space.
Organizers hope to draw attention to the stories of homeless individuals involved in the project as well as draw them into the public sphere.
A website, “Food and Joy” has been created to share stories of people like Honza, a Moravian undergraduate who succumbed to gambling addiction, or Zuzka, a recovering heroin addict who teaches drug abstinence in schools, both of whom have benefitted from the project.