Community support means everything to the staff at Gus's Keystone Family Restaurant. To thank the community, the restaurant will offer a free Easter dinner at both its locations - 1050 W. Main St., Mount Joy, and 3687 Rothsville Road, Ephrata.

The meal will be available for takeout only on Sunday, April 4, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. or until meals run out, said Yianis Kourgelis, who owns the restaurant with his father, Gus. The meal will include turkey and ham, mashed potatoes, corn, dinner rolls and dessert.

"It's first-come, first-served," Yianis said. "You'll just drive up, grab a meal and go."

The restaurants offered a free Easter dinner last year for the first time. Yianis said he and his father, along with his brother-in-law, Dino Papazekos, were sitting around talking about how the pandemic was affecting the community when inspiration struck.

"My dad said it might be good to do something like this for the community and it would be good to see our customers, because we were closed at that time," Yianis recalled. "Last year went so well, we knew we wanted to do it again this year. We're hoping to do it every year."

This year has been tough for the restaurant business, he noted, but that didn't stop the family from wanting to give back.

"We've been in Mount Joy for 21 years, and we've been in Ephrata about six years. The communities in both locations have been very supportive," Yianis explained. "We have regulars who come in two or three times a day. We've just gotten such a great response to our restaurants that we thought, if we can give up one day of profits to give back to the community, we're more than happy to do that."

Last year, the restaurants gave out 1,000 meals between the two locations, he said, adding, "Each meal was packed for two people, so we actually prepared 2,000 meals."

Yianis said the staff is happy to participate in the opportunity to thank customers for their support. "We have very strong loyalty with our customers, but also with our staff," he stated. "As a family-owned restaurant, we are very tight knit. We also like to think of the community as part of our family because we love to getting to know our customers."

The free meal is a way to show community members how much they are appreciated, Yianis said. "With all the negativity and hardship of this past year, this is something we can do to put a smile on someone's face," he explained. "We just like to make people happy."