MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, Mich. — A Muskegon Heights business owner plans to open the doors to her restaurant for those less fortunate, offering a free Thanksgiving meal to anyone in need.
Corine Rose operates the namesake ‘Corine’s Cakes & Catering’ from a storefront on Broadway.
The operation—offering a range of soul food classics, sweet treats and more—has been its founder’s bread and butter for several years now. Even so, it’s a trip down memory lane every time Rose lights the burners.
“My grandmother—I'm named after her, actually,” Rose said. “She was the one who taught me everything I know. She taught me how to cook, she taught me how to do all the baking.”
Glass cases brimming with pies, cakes and clear containers filled with grandma’s comfort classics dominate the floor plan. Yet, there’s another recipe her grandmother passed along that doesn’t appear in lights on the menu board.
“Growing up, my grandma instilled in us… that you have to give back to the community,” she related. “My grandmama would cook for everybody. She would never charge anybody nothing.”
This sparked another thought.
“I don't see it like that anymore,” Rose laughed. “I'm like, I'm going to bring it back, because it's going to take us to show the kids that are coming up in the future what they need to do for the community to keep the whole train rolling.”
She decided to cook up free community Thanksgiving meals. She planned to pay for the whole thing out of her own pocket, and announced the event on Facebook.
“I let the community know that we're going to do the free dinner,” Rose explained. “That day, within 30 minutes people started bringing me turkeys. You got all the churches… my biggest contributor that I did not see and I want to give a shout out to… Parkland Properties, and they gave us a huge check to fill all the gaps. So, we have no worries.”
Rose indicated the donation had driven her to tears. Her staff too, she said, had volunteered to donate its time. Gordon Food Service and several nearby churches had also taken up the cause.
The whole ordeal is giving the soul food that’s become Corine’s livelihood a whole new life as food for her soul. She wants folks to leave her restaurant with just one idea.
“A full stomach and a full heart,” she said. “That somebody cares about them. Because we care about everybody that comes my way.”
The meal is scheduled from 12 to 2 on Nov. 23 at 90 W Broadway Ave, Muskegon Heights, MI 49444.
Transportation will be made available as will take-out meals with advanced notice.
Corine’s Cakes & Catering was also still seeking volunteers at the time of publication. For details or to donate your time, contact the restaurant via the information on their website here.
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