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K. C. Commissioners Kick-Off Local Takeout Challenge

pic of take out challenge sign
Kent County Board of Commissioners

A local “take-out challenge” has started in West Michigan.  The Kent County Board of Commissioners has issued a challenge aimed at encouraging residents to support locally owned restaurants.

“Everybody’s busy and I thought, I’m going to grab dinner, then I thought, how cool is this if I challenge board members to do the same thing.”

And with that, the “Kent County Takeout Challenge” is on!
That was Kent County Board Chair Mandy Bolter.  She kicked off the campaign Thursday with a video shot outside Noto’s Old World Italian Dining. She nominated fellow Commission Board members and residents to take up the challenge.

“I would love this to spread like wild fire, get as many people to do this as possible. I would obviously love them to use our hash-tag K.C. Take-Out Challenge.”

The hope is to motivate residents to support locally-owned Kent County restaurants hit hard by the pandemic.

It’s a digital campaign encouraging people to order takeout and publicly challenge three friends to do the same by tagging them on social media.

“Restaurants are just struggling and if there’s any way we can use our platform to promote and push more take out and more restaurant business, then we’ll do it.”

Restaurants, which were operating at 50% capacity since the spring 2020 ban on indoor dining was lifted, were again forced to move to takeout and delivery- only, when new Michigan Department of Health and Human Services orders took effect on November 16.  Bolter is hoping this will help restaurants stay afloat.

“The vaccine is coming, I think by the end of second quarter next year, a lot will have had it, so if we can get our restaurants through that into spring and they can open their doors again and we can dine outside, we just gotta get them through this critical time.”

The campaign will run through the end of the year and is using the hashtag #KCTakeoutChallenge.

For a list of locally owned restaurants throughout Kent County, visit accesskent.com/KCTakeoutChallenge.

Jennifer is an award winning broadcast news journalist with more than two decades of professional television news experience including the nation's fifth largest news market. She's worked as both news reporter and news anchor for television and radio in markets from Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo all the way to San Francisco, California.