A Lincoln City food truck owner took his operation on the road this Christmas to help feed the homeless.
Dan Clanton owns The Grill 1646, a food truck based in Lincoln City. He, his family and crew handed out almost 600 hamburgers and more than 400 donated blankets at spots in Lincoln City, Portland and Salem.
The whole trip started at 10 a.m. and wrapped up at midnight. The group started Christmas Day cooking up hot meals for people at the Lincoln City Resource Center.
They packed up and headed to Portland where they stopped at a transition project for women, the Union Gospel Mission and Portland Rescue Mission.
Once they finished in Portland they hit the road for Salem. They fed homeless men and women at the Union Gospel Mission there.
This is the second year Clanton and his family have headed up the effort. “Last year we did it spur of the moment,” he says. “My son and I, we decided to go share our family with people who didn’t have one.”
They plan to make it an annual tradition.
In year two, this turned into a Lincoln City community effort. Blankets were gathered in a Blanket Drive. The food was donated in part by other Lincoln City businesses.
“Franz Bakery donated bread without being asked,” Clanton says. “U.S. Food donated a lot of the meat this year. We covered all the veggies and condiments.”
The experience is humbling, he said, and really hits you hard.
In fact, Clanton made the 2-hour drive from Lincoln City to Portland again on December 26 to give new pairs of shoes to homeless men he met on Christmas.
"He walked almost two blocks shuffling on top of his blanket because he didn’t have any shoes," said Clanton. "So we tore the truck apart looking for shoes and didn't have any. So I drove back and bought him shoes."
"I mean I get to go home to my family. He doesn’t. So I shared my family with him for a few minutes yesterday and today."
