Balmoral Restaurant owner plans to feed hundreds of seniors for free

Growing up in an orphanage, Balmoral Restaurant owner Colin Smith saw his share of generosity.

“A lot of older people, not so much the younger people, dropped off food and they gave money and clothes,” Smith said. “It’s about giving back.”

Once again, Smith is planning to feed hundreds of seniors for free at his restaurant. Smith has been organizing the event every year since the restaurant first opened its doors in 2018.

Last year’s event fed 312 seniors. This year, he would like to feed 600 seniors over two days – July 12 and 13.

To help him reach that goal, he has started a GoFundMe fundraiser, gofundme.com/f/balmoral-restaurant-seniors-day-2021. To sign up for Seniors Day, phone lines will open at 2 p.m. July 5.

“The senior citizens, they absolutely love it,” Smith said. “It’s a fun day out for them. They’re getting a nice meal and meeting up with their friends and getting out of the house.”

They also are appreciative of his efforts, with Smith receiving his fair share of hand written thank-you letters from seniors expressing their gratitude.

A Queen Elizabeth impersonator will also be part of the festivities. The restaurant plans to feed 30 seniors an hour each day.

“So over 10 hours, we’ll serve 300 people,” Smith said. “And that way we don’t overwhelm the kitchen or the staff.”

And he knows that the three-course meal will mean something special for those seniors who have not been out much this past year because of the pandemic. Smith said he will be overjoyed “seeing 600 senior citizens having a happy, relaxed day catching up with their friends.”

“I will go to bed a happy man,” he said.