Tucked away in the Lakewood Town Center, the Moon Rise Café doesn’t necessarily stand out, except in the ways that are important: good food, good service, good prices, and good hearts.

Restaurant owner Christine Curren believes in supporting local charities, but rather than hosting “takeovers” that offer a percentage of profits, or giving out coupons, Moonrise allows customers to “Pay it Forward.” All of it. As in, every so often, food at the café is free for the entire day and diners can choose to contribute whatever they want or are able to contribute to the charity featured that day.

On October 20, that Charity was Emergency Food Network. The Moon Rise raised $2,150 for EFN. Executive Director Helen McGovern was there to thank customers for supporting EFN’s work feeding Pierce County’s hungry. “In this economy for someone to donate 100% of their profits while still paying for staff time and all the food served is unheard of. The crew at Moon Rise Café deliver the best food ever and have the most generous hearts.” The need for emergency food is the biggest it has ever been in the organization’s 29-year history. They are set to go well beyond the 14.1 million pounds of food distributed to area feeding programs in 2010. They passed that number in September.

Chris is happy to offer people the chance to help reduce food-insecurity, and also hopes that some people who might not be able to afford a meal at a restaurant have the chance to pay whatever they can, if anything, for a meal at the Moon Rise on these special “Pay it Forward” days.

The restaurant world is a tough business, and many fail, yet the folks at the Moonrise can hopefully count on the good karma they should be accumulating for their efforts.