Evangela Stanley is nursing an injured knee Thursday as she brings in supplies and a shelf she got for Christmas into the People’s Choice Kitchen. Her restaurant is on the busy corner of Thurston Road and Brooks Avenue in the 19th Ward.
Stanley made headlines this month by telling customers to pay what they can for their meal.
“$3, $4, $5, whatever they could afford, I'll make sure they could eat,” said Stanley.
Her generosity inspired donations by mail and in person. Stanley won’t say how much people are paying it forward, but she says it’s been a busy month filled with new customers like Jerry McCabe of Greece.
McCabe, who grew up in the area, stopped by Thursday because he wanted to chip in to help Stanley.
“When I saw the publicity, I thought this woman is doing God’s work and the least I could do is come by and make a very small donation and to let her know that people who aren’t in the neighborhood today still appreciate what she does,” McCabe said.
Things took a tough turn on Monday, though, when Stanley was locking up for the night.
“A young man with a hoodie rushed in on me, I really had no time to react, so I started screaming, 'Darnell! Darnell!' and Darnell ran in without thinking, ran right into him and started fighting the guy,” Stanley said.
Darnell Wilson works at the restaurant. During the struggle, the intruder fired shots, but thankfully, nobody was wounded. Wilson did injure his hand, though, and Stanley bruised her knee when she fell.
The man in the hoodie got away and has not been found yet.
Kris Lamy is a father of two who lives in Gates. He stopped by Thursday to buy food and make a donation.
“We heard the story,” Lamy said of the attempted robbery. “We thought it was super sad, of course, so we just wanted to show our support and try some great food.”
Stanley said she won’t let this stop her -- in fact, she’s extending her pay-what-you-can approach as long as she can.
“I can’t let the bad guys, never will they win, there’s too many good people in this world,” said Stanley.
In the days since, Stanley says, community members have poured into People’s Choice, helped her clean up, bought jerk chicken, and paid it forward for those who need it.
