OLD Mate’s Burgers in Coffs Harbour had a cracking ‘Pay it Forward to Pete’s Place’ campaign during February, culminating in 190 burgers being pledged to the not-for-profit.

“Customers, suppliers and the public jumped on board and far exceeded our expectations,” Old Mates co-owner Louise Wilson told News Of The Area.

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“Our goal was to have 120 cheeseburgers donated.

“Our final tally is 190.”

“Many people donated after reading about it in NOTA and a few workplaces took a bucket around asking their colleagues to donate,” said Louise.

“One workplace donated over $300.”

The ten-year-old sister of one of the burger bar’s staff decided to do a fundraiser by singing for an hour on a livestream and raised $160.

“Even if people could only donate $2, every cent counted towards those cheeseburgers.”

Old Mate’s Burgers husband-and-wife owners Christopher and Louise Wilson and their team headed to Pete’s Place on Tuesday, 28 February at 8am, thankfully without the torrential rain of 2022, set up the BBQ under a marquee and over the next two-and-a-half hours cooked up 120 cheeseburgers to some very grateful people.

Every single burger was consumed or packed in a foil bag for later.

“This just highlights the need,” observed Louise.

The local Nyanggan Gapi Café also provided free coffees and hot beverages.

Norco provided flavoured milks and OzHarvest provided water and soft drinks which were all extremely popular.

“Some of our suppliers helped out with mince, burger buns and cheese, which increased the number of burgers we were able to make,” said Louise.

One of the juniors at Old Mate’s donated his time to come and help assemble the cheeseburgers after he and his family experienced homelessness in the past few years.

“We had such a great morning and are overwhelmed with gratitude at the generosity of the people who gave.

“The remaining 70 cheeseburgers will make their way to Pete’s Place in the coming weeks once Anna (Pete’s Place Manager, Anna Scott) lets us know the best way to do this.”

Louise promises to let everyone know how that went through the Old Mate’s Burgers Facebook page.

Thanks was offered to PFD for supplying mince, Thomas Foods for mince and cheese and Urunga Country Oven Bakery and Bray Street Hot Bake for the burger buns.

By Andrea FERRARI