A CR Man is Opening Up Tabs at Restaurants for Local Heroes

UPDATE: Ryan Martin is opening up another tab for local heroes today, June 26th, at Midtown Station in Cedar Rapids! This time, it will be $1,000 and teachers are now included under the "hero" umbrella!

Midtown Station is located at 715 2nd Ave SE and is open at 11 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. They have a variety of menu items, but one of the things I love the most is that they serve breakfast ALL DAY! Here are some of the delicious things I've tried during my visits:

ORIGINAL POST:

If you are a first responder, healthcare worker, or a member of the military, Ryan Martin wants to buy you lunch!

In the last couple of days, you may have seen a Facebook post from a man named Ryan Martin. Ryan works for COUNTRY Financial, located at 3925 Fountains Blvd in Cedar Rapids, and he shared some good news on Tuesday, June 24th. The post reads:

"In an effort to support local businesses and to thank our first responders, healthcare workers, and military service members, I’m opening a $750 tab at Loosies on 32nd St NE now until the end of next month!! I appreciate everything you do for our community – and this is my way to say thank you for taking care of us."

If you fall into one of these categories, all you need to do to claim your free meal is call or stop by the restaurant to place your order, and then tell them to put it on Ryan's tab. You'll be required to show your work ID.

This is all part of the COUNTRY Financial 'Operation Helping Heroes' program. According to Ryan:

"The Operation Helping Heroes program was created in 2015 to support first responders, active duty service members, veterans and their families. This year COUNTRY Financial will donate more than $3 million to organizations and programs, supporting the company’s vision to “enrich lives in the communities we serve.”

Ryan told us via email that he chose Loosies because it is "a great, local and new restaurant. The owners are nice and I love their food." Loosies is located at 1611 32nd St NE in Cedar Rapids, right down the street from the Oakland Road Hy-Vee. The tiny restaurant just opened up about a year ago and specializes in loose meat sandwiches. Here's a look at what they call the Loaded Mega Loosie:

Loosies is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can check out the menu and get more details on take-out and curbside pickup HERE.

This actually isn't the first time Ryan has opened a tab for local heroes, and it won't be the last. Back on June 12th, he announced he was doing the same exact thing at Victory Lane Bar & Grill in Clarence. His email to us reads:

"I’ve heard from other local businesses that would also like to continue this effort and help our local community.  Please look at my Facebook page and I’ll be sharing information about other businesses that are making donations to first responders, healthcare workers and military service members."

We can't wait to see this program grow! You can follow Ryan's Facebook page for updates HERE.