Matthew Radecki and Christopher Fiegl, co-owners of Hometown Rent to Own in Salamanca, will once again be offering free meals this Thanksgiving. The pair will be offering gift cards that can be used to purchase the meals. Submitted photo

SALAMANCA — Hometown Rent to Own in Salamanca will once again help provide free meals as part of its “Thanksgiving Feast to 100 People” that will take place beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20.

In previous years, Hometown Rent to Own had all the fixings bagged and ready to pick up with a gift card to buy the turkey. This year, due to COVID-19, the business will be handing out gift cards to purchase a full Thanksgiving feast.

Co-owners Matthew Radecki and Christopher Fiegl said people are not required to be a customer to participate.

People will be able to come in, grab the gift card and be able to get all items at Saunders Parkview to cook their Thanksgiving feast.

Hometown Rent to Own opened its doors in 2015 and is in the fifth year of handing out free Thanksgiving dinners. The business has partnered with Sanders Parkview, and the store helped by selling the food at cost.

“We want to help as many people as we can,” the pair said. “Thanksgiving is all about family, and if we can bring family together in these tough times then it’s very rewarding we were a part of that.”

Radecki said anybody in the community and surrounding can come in for the free event, without obligation.

“There are so many people in the area who might be in need and we want to make sure no one is going without, especially this time of year,” Radecki said.

This is a difficult time with Christmas coming up and other bills to pay, not mention we are in a pandemic and many may be out of work. Thanksgiving dinner can be expensive and some people don’t have the extra funds.”

Radecki said they do the event because when they first opened, they wanted to help the community that took care of them. In turn, they thought why not give back to the people who have given them the opportunity to serve them in the community.

According to Fiegl, a second store is in the works in Jamestown and is in the later stages of development. They are hoping to close by the end of November.

“As we continue to grow our operation, we are hoping this second location will also be a Western New York thing and inspire other people to give back. As we expand, we’re hoping the Thanksgiving event gets bigger and bigger every year whether it’s two stores, three or four. We want to give away 100 meals at every location we are at.”

For the fifth year, Radecki and Fiegl are sharing their good fortune of having a successful business. The two became co-owners of Hometown Rent to Own five years ago after becoming friends while they were working for a competitor. Radecki was Fiegl’s district supervisor when he was manager of a store in Salamanca.

There are risk in any business, but they were given a great opportunity from their mentors, Randy and Laura Otander, of Ashville, who are responsible for helping them get their business going.

“If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be feeding the community annually,” the pair said. “At Hometown Rent to Own, we make houses into homes and bring families together by doing this every year. As long as we’re here, we’ll do this event for years to come. When we expand to other territories, we’ll do it there as well.”

Fiegl said this event is not about them; it’s about the community and family. “It’s very touching when someone comes to me and thanks me for what we are doing,” he said. “It makes me know they are doing something good.

For more information, call 265-2080 or visit Hometown Rent to Own on Facebook.