Restaurant Offers Free Food; All Donations Go To Family Of Fallen Provo Officer

OREM, Utah – Business was booming at El Pollo Loco in Orem Monday evening and while their grilled chicken is always a draw, there’s something else that had people coming to the restaurant, particularly hungry. It was another show of community support for the family of fallen Provo Police officer Joseph Shinners.

It was held just a couple of blocks away from where Officer Shinners was gunned down in the line of duty, so the restaurant gave away food, in exchange for donations, to help the family.

“We are giving away completely free food, all we are asking, if instead of paying for the food, they donate it to the family, 100 percent of the donations are going to his family, we are not taking any cut out of it,” said Brian Spongberg, with El Pollo Loco.

And that’s why employees are working hard to keep up with all of the orders coming in, as customers come to show their support to the Provo Police Department and Officer Shinners’ family.

“I am glad to be here, I saw the incident that night, it was really sad and I hope to be able to show we’re behind law enforcement,” said Scott Watters, a customer who dined at the restaurant Monday evening.

A similar event last month by the owners of the restaurant in Ogden, raised $16,000 for the family of North Ogden mayor Brent Taylor.

They are hoping that by serving up their food, it will help the Shinners family to know the community is still behind them, even if it means a very busy kitchen.

“So we brought in some extra employees so we are fully staffed, we are cooking a lot of extra chicken, and so we are preparing for a big crowd and hoping we can raise a lot of money for the family,” Spongberg added.