T-L Photo/KIM NORTH NATHAN KOVACHS of Dillonvale takes the order of Valley Grove’s R.J. Folmar on Monday at the Rayland Dairy Queen. The business is offering a hot lunch for students from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Monday through Friday until April 3 due to the closure of all schools in Ohio in response to the coronavirus.

RAYLAND — A restaurant in southern Jefferson County is providing reduced-cost lunches for school-age children.

Emilee Petric, owner of the Rayland Dairy Queen, posted on social media over the weekend that her store would be helping out in the wake of school cancellations in Ohio. She said she was overwhelmed with the response and generosity, both from customers and the public.

“I saw another restaurant in the Columbus area was doing something similar. When I saw it, I just had to do it too,” Petric, a Buckeye Local graduate, said. “It was a hard decision by the state to close the schools because so many students receive free or reduced meals. I just wanted to make sure the local kids in the area had a way they could still get a hot meal every day where they would usually receive it at school.”

The business is offering a hot lunch for students from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Monday through Friday until April 3 due to the closure of all schools in Ohio in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

For $1 students can choose from a cheeseburger, hot dog or two chicken strips and a child’s fountain drink. For students not able to afford the $1, Dairy Queen has received some donations to cover the cost.

“I posted my idea on Facebook and was, honestly, not expecting such a huge response,” she added. “We had a lot of people offer to donate the dollar to cover the lunch for the kids, so if somebody comes in and can’t pay the dollar, then we have a fund set up to pay for their meal. We have a lot of donations set up for cases like that.”

Monday was the first day the service was provided — one day after Gov. Mike DeWine issued an order Sunday that closed bars and restaurants, limiting their business to delivery and carryout service only. Petric said business was a little slow inside the restaurant, as most people wanted to avoid entering the lobby and opted to use the drive-thru.

“I had planned to be here to monitor crowd control. I was only going to let eight customers in the lobby at one time. I was going to stand at the door and let one (customer) in as one (customer) goes out, but luckily I haven’t had to do that,” she said.

Following Sunday’s announcement, she said she thinks some people are still confused as to whether restaurants in Ohio are open at all.

“We have it on our message board that we are open,” she noted. “We decided last Friday to close down our seating and only use the drive-thru and carryouts. We were ahead of the curve.

“We know this may be a tough time for some and want to be sure that kids who would have gotten lunch at school still have somewhere to get a hot meal.”

The restaurant employs 20-22 people and hasn’t had to lay off anyone.

“About five people work 30 hours or more. That that’s what they consider full-time,” Petric offered.

Due to its location in Rayland, there is no other fast-food restaurant closer to the DQ than Martins Ferry or Steubenville.

“This is when we start to see a huge up-tick in business,” Petric continued. “March and April are two of our busiest months of the year, because people want to get outside. If it’s 55 degrees outside, we get tons of people that want ice cream because it feels like summer. I’m a little bit apprehensive, but we’ll see what happens.”