Local Eateries in Coos Bay, North Bend and Charleston – (Coos Bay, OR – January 13, 2020) After the hugely successful Operation: Holiday Gift Card restaurant gift card blitzed held in December, the organizers are planning Round 2 for January. This time, Operation: Show the Love program will concentrate on assisting those restaurants with inside dining that continue to be affected by the opening and closing orders due to COVID-19. Once again, the Cities of Coos Bay and North Bend, along with the Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board (SOWIB), the Wild Rivers Coast Alliance (WRCA), the Travel Southern Oregon Coast (TSOC), the Coos Bay-North Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB), and K-DOCK Radio are working with restaurants in Coos Bay, North Bend & Charleston to give them a boost during this traditionally slow time for business. “These organizations have pooled funds to purchase gift cards in the total amount of $540 per restaurant participating, which will provide an influx of funds now when restaurants are traditionally in their slowest months, made only worse by the pandemic situation,” said Mayor Joe Benetti, Coos Bay. “Between Coos Bay, North Bend and Charleston, we have 71 small locally-owned restaurants who have had to close their dining rooms to seated diners again and again over the past 9 months.” “We are very excited to have the support of such fine organizations to help us show our love for our small businesses,” said Mayor Jessica Engelke, North Bend. “In December, the gift cards went so fast we knew we had to repeat the program. We also know that when these gift cards are redeemed, diners will purchase more than the face value, so our restaurants will get another boost then.” The gift cards will be sold for half the face value during a one-day Gift Card Sales Blitz on Saturday, January 23rd at the Coos Bay Visitor Information Center beginning at 9:00am. All gift cards are valued at $20, and will be sold for $10 each. Limit ONE gift card per restaurant per person. Limit 5 total gift cards. “We know that we had some disappointed citizens in December who were unable to purchase the gift cards because we ran out so fast, within a few hours! We also had requests to hold this event on a weekend when more people could attend,” said Janice Langlinais, Executive Director of the VCB. “This time, we are planning to hold the event on a Saturday, we will have more gift cards available, and will limit the total number of cards that can be purchased to five. This will, hopefully, give us cards to sell throughout the day and to more of our wonderful citizens who want to show their love for our restaurants, too.” As a reminder, there is a limit to the number of people who can be inside the Coos Bay Visitor Center at a time. The Center staff and volunteers will be monitoring the doors and encouraging purchasers to social distance both outside the center when waiting to enter and once they are in the center waiting for their purchases. The VCB encourages those who are able to do so to bring cash as these transactions will go much quicker. Donations will also be welcome. A Donation Box will be set up for those wishing to donate cash or gift cards for local needs.
