Grace Cafe in Danville

Danville, KY (WTVQ)- A restaurant in Danville opened its doors on Saturday and hopes to fight the battle against hunger.  ABC 36’s Alycia Dahmer takes us to Boyle County to tell us about Kentucky’s first ‘pay what you can’ restaurant.

Grace Cafe is a non- profit, pay what you can community restaurant dedicated to serving fresh farm to table food for the communty.  The concept came from the One World Everybody Eats Foundation, where instead of set prices…. you pay a donation for what you feel the meal is worth.

"It’s just an awesome concept, awesome idea and awesome atmosphere.  Come and volunteer, come and do what you can, donate, or if nothing else just come and eat.  The food here is excellent," said volunteer and board member C.R. Payne.

"Pay a little or pay a lot. It’s delicious home cooking with a delicious mission," said Alycia Dahmer.

"We certainly are a business built on the trust of our customers and our community.  However, our motto is if your pockets are full, pay and pay it forward.  If your pockets are light…. pay what you can and if your pockets are empty, you can volunteer an hour, in exchange for your meal.  So, we’re really offering folks a hand up, not just a hand out," said Director Rochelle Bayless.

Organizers want to eliminate hunger in Boyle County.

"Places like this that say, you know what…. if you’re hungry and you can’t really afford it…. then come and eat.  You’re getting fed, what you can give, give….if you can’t, you can give back in the form of service. So, I’m hoping that other counties will see this and pick it up and say yes, this is how we can give back to our community,"said volunteer Jay Hendrickson.

Volunteers hope this idea will spread outside of Boyle County and to all of Central Kentucky.

"Come and try it.  Come and see what we’re doing, and especially those who may not be in this local area.  Come and see what we’re doing and it’s hopefully something that can be duplicated in other areas. I would love to see this go throughout the state of Kentucky, where everybody in the state of Kentucky and all over the country can have an opportunity to eat and nobody has to go to bed hungry," said volunteer C.R. Payne.

For more information, you can log onto www.gracecafeky.org.  They are open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 A.M. to 2 P.M.