By Chris Muldrow / Fredericksburg.Today
Around 2 pm on Friday, power went out in parts of Fredericksburg, including the building containing Olde Towne Butcher.
When it became clear the downtown butcher’s shop might be down for the count for a long time, owner Keith Lebor decided to make the most of the situation and get his inventory of beef, pork, chicken, cheese and seafood to shelters around the area.
“We hoped the power would come back on quickly, but when it did’t we combined all of our food in the walk-in meat cooler to keep it as cold as possible for as long as possible,” Lebor said. “We have about 18 hours to hold the food that way until it reaches a temp where we cannot sell it.
“First thing this morning I instructed my team to start looking for shelters that needed food and had my butchers start breaking everything down for distribution.”
The shop ended up giving food to Empowerhouse, the Thurman Brisben Center, and Mary’s Shelter.
When some other area restaurants heard about the power problem, they offered to buy up more of the store’s inventory to prevent more loss. Lebor estimates they gave away about 1000 pounds of food.
Lebor has owned the shop on William Street for about 3 years.
