Amid pandemic, Broken Rack pool hall encourages paying it forward

As COVID-19 continues spreading across Canada and Saskatchewan, a Regina business is encouraging people to focus less on the doom-and-gloom aspects of it and instead engage in acts of kindness.

“We just have to pull together and not go down the doom-and-gloom rabbit hole,” Rick Krieger, co-owner of The Broken Rack Billiards hall in the city’s south end, told the Greg Morgan Morning Show.

The pub and pool hall made the decision to shut down, starting on Tuesday, on a day-to-day basis to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.

But the pub doesn’t do food deliveries, like some closed restaurants are doing, leaving it with an abundance of perishable food items.

“My business partner Cam and I went through our coolers yesterday …,” Krieger said. “It became quite evident that when Cam and I were going through the coolers we were not going to be able to use this product, so we wanted to get it into the hands of somebody that could.

“And the first thing that comes to mind is the (Regina) Food Bank.”

They dropped off a truckload of the items on Tuesday, Krieger said.

“We loaded it up and made the donation yesterday, and they were quite grateful,” he said.

Krieger said he thinks it’s better to stay calm and focus on positive things and kind acts people can do for others.

“I encourage anyone that has a favourite (restaurant) if they’re doing delivery, please do order from them, or even a favourite retail business, buy a gift certificate,” he said, anticipating the economic burden that’s coming with COVID-19.

“I think everybody just needs to try and focus not on what you can’t do or the doom and gloom, but there’s lots of little things that you can do … If you can think of some little thing to help out or to help a neighbour (do it),” he said.

“The new catch word should be stay calm, stay kind.”