Zak’s Cafe annual “pay what you can” weekly charity dinners are back

Monday marked the beginning of Zak’s Café “pay what you can” weekly dinners, which allow customers to pay what they wish in exchange for a meal. One hundred percent of that money from customers is then donated to a charity of Zak’s owners Katherine and James George’s choice.

This year, the Georges chose Share Our Strength –a nationwide nonprofit aimed at ending childhood hunger.

Money generated from the last three years of “pay what you can” dinners at Zak’s was donated to Heifer International, which, like Share Our Strength, essentially helps to feed people. Heifer provides livestock to people struggling around the world and trains them to become self-reliant for food and income.

Thanks to the “pay what you can” dinners, Zak’s Café raised a total of $15,000 for Heifer.

James said he and Katherine decided to switch to Share Our Strength this year because, unlike Heifer, all the money donated stays within the U.S.

“It’s all for children in the United States,” he said.

James, Zak’s sole cook, and Katherine, the sole server of the café, cover the cost of the expenses for the “pay what you can” dinners and whatever amount customers pay goes to Share Our Strength.

“It’s straight-up, every penny that is donated goes straight to [Share Our Strength],” James said.

This won’t be the first time Zak’s Café has donated to the charity. Last fall, James and Katherine participated in Share Our Strength’s “dine out for no kid hungry” week from Sept. 18-24. Twenty-five percent of the restaurant’s profits from that week were donated to the charity, Katherine said.

The “pay what you can” dinners are also not the only fundraiser Zak’s Café has held over the years. In the past, the restaurant has had fundraisers to raise money to donate to help victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 that struck southeastern Asia, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and local fundraisers, such as the one for St. Frances Animal Rescue, Katherine said.

Katherine said she and James came up with the idea for the “pay what you can” dinners while watching a news broadcast in Seattle four years ago. According to the broadcast, a Seattle restaurant was holding “pay what you can” dinners, Katherine said.

“Because, four years ago, things were even worse than what they are now,” she said of the economy. “People just didn’t have the money to go out and eat.”

The restaurant in Seattle offered a “chef’s choice” for a meal one night a week, and “if you didn’t have any money, you didn’t pay,” according to the broadcast, Katherine said.

She and James took that idea and held their first “pay what you can dinner” at Zak’s in 2007. That first year, Katherine recalls a man coming in on a fundraiser night and not having anything but two dollars on him.

“He was just getting here on a fishing boat and hadn’t been paid yet,” she said. “I said, ‘it’s spaghetti tonight.’”

However, the man returned in the summer with his fishing-boat buddies for burgers, Katherine said.

“He kept telling everybody, ‘I came in here and got dinner for two dollars when I didn’t have any money,’” Katherine said.

Some people offer up more for a “pay what you can” meal because it’s a fundraiser, Katherine and James said. People give anything from two dollars to over $200 for the fundraiser meals, they said. For instance, Katherine said a woman from Sitka left a check for $250 on a “pay what you can” night.

The fundraiser dinners at Zak’s are held every Monday night from now through April, except when the Georges take their annual vacation mid-February to Jamaica for two weeks.

And, when they return to Wrangell, locals here can look forward to a “pay what you can” meal influenced by the Caribbean island-nation.

“After we get back from vacation, we always do a Jamaican night,” said James. “But we have to wait (until after the trip) to read up on spices.”

“We have to read up on our Jamaican goodies,” Katherine added.

Jamaican night will occur sometime in March. James said, when the country’s green, yellow and black colors are waving outside Zak’s, customers can take that as their cue.

“If you see the Jamaican flag outside, come in that night,” he said. “That’s how we let everyone know.”

The “pay what you can” meals seem to be popular every year, Katherine said. James said they can feed anywhere from 20 to 60 people in an hour-and-a half on those nights.

“It’s fun,” Katherine said. “It gives people something to do.”

Monday, the first “pay what you can” meal this year, was a pizza and salad buffet. Next week, Jan. 30, will be a dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and dinner rolls, James said. The following week, customers will have their choice of chicken, seafood, broccoli or regular alfredo pasta with garlic bread.