‘Our goal is to love people’: Baylor grad running ‘pay what you can’ deli
On paper, opening a restaurant that charges no set prices (and allows anyone to eat for free) doesn’t seem like a sound business decision. But Bread of Life Community Deli in Meridian, Idaho, exists to do more than earn a profit.
“Our goal is to love people,” owner Cameron McCown, a 2010 Baylor graduate, told KTVB-TV in nearby Boise. “The way we do that is by feeding them no matter where they are in life. We feel if we do what we know to be right for people in the community, then it will work out.”
Bread of Life’s concept is actually pretty simple. While their menu contains sandwiches similar in price to those you find at other delis, the prices here are suggestions. If someone can’t afford to pay, they don’t have to. If someone’s sandwich should cost $6 but the visitor only has $3, then he or she gets it for $3. McCown asks that those who can’t afford a sandwich help out by working for a bit around the deli instead of paying. Most customers pay full price. A few even go above and beyond, paying more than the actual cost of their sandwich simply because they want to support Bread of Life’s mission to serve.
McCown, a finance major at Baylor, came to the unique idea in a roundabout way. He served in the Army and spent several years in banking after graduation. He and his wife, Robin McCown, BS ’08, MS ’10, a chemistry major at Baylor, moved to Idaho and saw an opportunity to serve. While well-versed in the financial world and knowledgeable of what it takes for a business to succeed, the McCowns decided to take a different path — one that might not be as easy as running a typical establishment (like the deli that preceded Bread of Life in the same location), but one that made a difference.
The willingness of the McCowns to risk possible profit to serve those in need stands out — so much so, in fact, that they were featured by PEOPLE magazine. Just more proof that worldwide leadership begins right in the community you call home.
Sic ’em, Cameron, Robin and Bread of Life Community Deli!