BlackJack Pasta Kitchen is letting Cathedral High students have ‘whatever they want’ while school is closed
'Why not give back?' owner Jack Rozza said.
Cathedral High School is just one of many schools that’s shut down amid the coronavirus public health crisis. The South End school offers free lunch pickup to students upon request, but BlackJack Pasta Kitchen wants students to know they can pop across the street for a free meal, too.
“The meals are all takeout of course because of the restrictions,” said Michael Kieloch, the school’s director of marketing and communications. “This provides students with an additional meal — dinner, something like that — that they can’t get from some of the other programs available.”
Cathedral High and BlackJack have forged a relationship since the Italian spot opened its doors in the neighborhood in July 2019, and have partnered up for school events in the past. The restaurant even provided free food for the school’s staff on the first day of the school year.
BlackJack owner Jack Rozza decided to contact the high school’s administration with the offer to provide meals to students on March 17, after Gov. Charlie Baker initially announced schools would close for three weeks. The governor later extended the closure until May 4, and Rozza said his offer still stands. To take part in this promotion, Cathedral High students just need to present their school IDs, and Rozza said they can order “whatever they want.”
“All those kids come in after school. They always come and hang out there, eat there,” he said. “They helped me out when I first opened, so I was like, ‘Why not give back?'”
https://www.facebook.com/blackjackpasta/photos/a.10155489486080997/10156698067950997/?type=3&theater
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