Grand Rapid Business Owners Play Santa By Buying $2500 Worth of Groceries For Strangers

The holiday season is all about showering the world with love. Some people do it in the form of buying presents for their loved ones, some of us send cards and carol, while others may find themselves doing acts of service and love around the holidays.

And that's exactly what two Grand Rapids restauranteurs decided to do earlier this week when they surprised shoppers at Ralph's Food Market.

Jenna Arcidiacono who owns Amore Trattoria Italiana (located at 5080 Alpine Ave NW in Comstock Park) and Chris Andrus who is one of the co-owners of Mitten Brewing Company (located at 527 Leonard St NW in Grand Rapids) did for shoppers on Monday December 5th.

The two walked into Ralph's Food Market and paid for almost a dozen people's groceries, just because. The total bill ended up being $2500, and they said they did it to spread some cheer during one of the most happy yet stressful times of the year.

Why did they pick this specific grocery store? They said they not only wanted to help people right here in our Grand Rapids community, but that they also wanted to support another local business in the process.

While we would be happy to see this happen just once, they aren't done spreading Christmas cheer. The two owners plan on doing at least two more pop-up pay-it-forward events at local groceries in town just like this first one.

But with a little community effort, we could make this go further! If you’d like to sponsor even a portion of one of these events, they are accepting community donations. You can donate either of the restaurant's charities by visiting and donating to the Mitten Foundation or Food Hugs.