Jackson Free Press

The COVID-19 outbreak is causing mass temporary closures of local businesses across the spectrum. Fortunately, plenty of those businesses have stepped up to help their employees and their communities in their own ways. Here's a list of what some Jackson businesses are doing during these trying times.

Walker's Drive In, Local 463, CAET and Parlor Market Donation Drive

Walker's Drive In, Local 463, CAET and Parlor Market all temporarily closed after lunch on Friday, March 20. To help their employees in the meantime, all four restaurants are holding a donation drive for seating when they reopen. Customers can reserve any one seat they choose at a date of their choosing after the restaurants reopen for each donation of $100, or two seats for $200 or three for $300. One hundred percent of each donation will go to restaurant staff to support them during the COVID-19 outbreak. For more information, visit the respective restaurants' Facebook pages.

Barrelhouse

In an effort to help its staff amid COVID-19 restaurant closures, Barrelhouse will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for gift card purchases only. The restaurant will have a manager in house to take gift card orders inside or by phone. All proceeds from gift card purchases will go directly toward helping pay staff their normal wages during the closure.

Elvie's

Elvie's has partnered with Sow Reap Feed, a local organization that focuses on urban farming to fight hunger and food insecurity, to collect donations of food or money with the goal of delivering 1,000 bagged lunches to kids in Jackson who will go hungry without access to a free school meal amid COVID-19 closures. Donations can be dropped off at the restaurant.

In addition to these measures, Elvie's is supporting their team through gift cards sales, available for purchase in person or over the phone, and DIY mixers for two of their most popular cocktails, the Sunday Stroll and Pepper Jelly Julep, for $10. For information, call 601-863-8828 or visit elviesrestaurant.com.

La Brioche Pop-up Shops

La Brioche will schedule a series of pop-up shops throughout the week of March 24-28.

Pop-up times include Tuesday, March 24 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; Thursday, March 26 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, March 28 from 10 a.m. to noon.

La Brioche will have only its window open, so customers do not have to walk through the door to make purchases. Customers can look at the items available online at labriochems.com or order online for in-store pickup and pay in advance.

Fairview Inn Easter Brunch Takeout

The Fairview is offering Easter brunch takeout this year. Online ordering is available here.

Orders must be placed by Saturday, April 4 by the end of the day. Orders can be picked up Friday, April 10 from noon to 5 p.m., Saturday, April 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, April 12 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Customers can specify their preferred pickup date and time at checkout.

All tips will go directly to Fairview Inn employees to help support them during the COVID-19 crisis.

Orange Peel

Orange Peel is temporarily closing its location in Fondren, but its sister store Repeat Street is offering curbside pickup. Customers can also buy Orange Peel gift cards online to support the stores employees. The store is currently offering discounted gift cards online at orangepeelfondren.com/cards/.

Corner Market

Corner Market is designating Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. as senior shopping hours for customers age 60 and over. This change in hours will begin Tuesday, March 24, and continue until further notice.

Corner Market is also partnering with Broad Street Baking Company starting Wednesday, March 25, to sell Broad Street bread exclusively at all three Jackson Corner Markets in Belhaven, Fondren, and Maywood Mart. Corner Market will carry sliced farmhouse white and honey whole wheat and whole loaves of Italian herb focaccia.

Sam's Club

Sam's Club will offer early shopping hours from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. every Thursday for seniors and people with disabilities or compromised immune systems.

Cock of the Walk

Cock of the Walk in Ridgeland is donating 20 percent of all gift card proceeds to servers amid COVID-19 closures. To order a gift card by mail, call 601-856-5500.

Mangia Bene

Bravo! Italian Restaurant, Broad Street Baking Co. and Sal and Mookie's have all temporarily closed, but customers can still support the business and its employees through gift card purchases at 3in1giftcard.com. During the closure, one part of gift card sales will go to employees and the other will go to offset expenses that accrue while the restaurants are closed. Gift cards are available by mail up to $250 or electronically.

The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen

The Manship has temporarily closed, but customers can still order gift cards online in any amount and schedule delivery for a date of their choosing.

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods has adjusted its store hours across all location. Customers can visit the Whole Foods website for more information on their store’s updated hours.

All Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. will now service customers who are age 60 and older one hour before opening to the general public to help them shop in a less crowded environment.

Additionally, Whole Foods stores will close up to two hours early to give team members more time to restock shelves, sanitize stores and rest. During this time, stores will remain open for grocery pickup and fulfilling Prime delivery orders only.

The Fresh Market

The Fresh Market, a national mission partner of Feeding America, is holding a fundraising drive at all of its stores to raise $250,000 by the end of April. The Fresh Market will match these donations up to $250,000 to reach a $5 million meal goal. Guests can choose to donate to Feeding America in increments of $1, $5 or any other amount at checkout from Friday, March 27, through the end of April. Guests can also donate online at feedingamerica.org/thefreshmarket-covid.

Every dollar raised helps provide at least 10 meals, and 90% of the funds raised stay in The Fresh Market’s local communities, a release from The Fresh Market says. All of The Fresh Market’s 159 stores also make food donations multiple times per week to Feeding America’s partner food banks and its agencies to fight hunger in their communities.

Table 100

Table 100 gift cards are available in amounts from $50 to $200 and delivered within 5-10 business days. It can be shipped to you or the gift recipient. For a limited time, purchase a gift card of $30 or more and receive a bonus card worth 50% of the purchase price for free. The gift card will never expire. Limit up to $500. Purchase online now at tableonehundred.com and Table 100 will mail your gift card and bonus card to you.

4TopHospitality

4TopHospitality restaurant group, owner of Amerigo, CHAR, Sombra, Anjou, Saltine and more, is offering gift cards in multiple denominations in both traditional and printable formats. Virtual e-cards are delivered instantly via email with free delivery and plastic gift cards are shipped via USPS for $1.99 within one business day of ordering. Gift cards can be redeemed at any 4TopHospitality location.

Supplemental Food for JPS Students

Atmos Energy has partnered with the Mississippi Food Network to fund weekend sacks of food to Jackson Public Schools students. JPS children will receive supplemental nutritious and easy-to-prepare foods during the weekends. Atmos Energy contributed $9,200 to Mississippi Food Network to provide food for 1,200 bags of food over the next two weekends.

Food will be available Friday, March 27, at designated locations within JPS. The bags include:

2 breakfast items (cold cereal)

2 main dishes (soup, pasta meal, etc.)

2 fruit juice boxes (apple juice, grape juice, orange juice, etc.)

2 fruit cups (fruit cups, apple sauce etc.)

1 dairy (shelf-stable white milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk)

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi will provide evening meals and snacks for vulnerable youth ages 5 to 18. The organization has also converted its after school food programs and Club sites into ‘Grab-N-Go’ community food service hubs providing drive-through food pickup. Boys & Girls Clubs will also provide weekly educational activities with each child’s food bag.

StudiOm

StudiOm is offering online yoga and mat pilates classes with FaceTime for all paying students. Go to studiomyogafms.com to buy classes and check on class times and cancellations. Text 601-209-6325 about 5-10 minutes before your class starts. You will receive a FaceTime call to accept when your class begins.

Fondren Fitness

Fondren Fitness has temporarily closed, but in the meantime the gym is offering a new service called Fondren Fitness Online. The service offers online workout content for home exercise, including a 20-minute Wake Up Shape Up morning workout. For more information, visit fondrenfitness.com.

Planet Fitness

All Planet Fitness clubs have closed until further notice, and the company has proactively frozen all memberships and will not charge any fees while the clubs remain closed.

To help keep people fit and healthy while staying at home, Planet Fitness is offering the Planet Fitness app with access to more than 500 exercises designed for people of all fitness levels.

Planet Fitness will also broadcast daily workouts on Facebook Live at 7 p.m. ET, which will feature Planet Fitness trainers and special guests. For those who can't participate live, each workout will be available to view on both the Planet Fitness Facebook page and YouTube channel after the broadcast ends.

Entergy Mississippi

Effective Sunday March 15, Entergy Mississippi has suspended service disconnections through May 14, subject to the Mississippi Public Service Commission’s review after 30 days. Entergy will be working directly with customers to make payment arrangements if they are unable to pay in full. Customers requiring such arrangements should call 1-800-368-3749 or visit myAccount.

For payments, visit https://entergy.com/payonline to make a payment at no charge, pay by phone at 800-584-1241 ($2.95 fee) or by mail to Entergy Mississippi, P.O. Box 8105, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70891.

Walter Anderson Museum Art+ Initiative

The Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs, Miss., recently launched a new ART+ initiative, which is a series of art experiences accessible digitally for students and the public isolated by the COVID-19 outbreak. The initiative includes collections of a variety of fields of study including art, science, social studies and language arts.

The museum's current installment involves artist Walter Anderson's love and depiction of pelicans and its connection to the country's conservation history, including the effects of the pesticide DDT on the decreased pelican population. For more information on the Art+ initiative, visit walterandersonmuseum.org.

MSU Online Educational Materials

The Mississippi State University Research and Curriculum Unit and MSU Alumni Association have partnered to provide educational resources amid COVID-19 school and university closures. One such resource is Khan Academy, an online learning platform offering hundreds of free classes from math and science to history. The site includes personalized learning content to assist parents, teachers and students of all ages. Find an informational video about accessing Khan Academy’s educational materials here.

MSU is also working to increase resources to assist students with limited internet access by transitioning all coursework to online platforms. The Mitchell Memorial Library on the MSU campus is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and students may access the Computer Commons with a valid MSU ID card. Students off campus may access internet services at local county Extension offices throughout Mississippi during normal business hours.

Charter is offering free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription, and COMCAST/Xfinity is also offering services through its “Internet Essentials” program.

Students with financial need who must purchase internet access from a local provider can request assistance from the MSU Student Relief Fund by emailing [email protected].

Additional information on these resources can be found here.

Parking Lot WiFi Access

Mississippi University for Women is maintaining a list of locations to help people across the state find WiFi access from parking lots, as well as hotspots that private internet providers and extension offices set up. Some libraries will require a password to access, but these should be posted on the building or front doors. MUW will continue adding locations as they receive them. View the list on Google here. For more information or to add a location, email the Mississippi University for Women's Fant Memorial Library at [email protected].

Imagine Behavioral Health

Imagine Behavioral Health, an outpatient mental health center in Hinds county, will remain open to the public and continue offering its services. The center is offering telehealth for psychiatric visits, therapy visits and outpatient groups. For information call 601-594-7296 or visit imaginebh.com.

UPS Still Operating Amidst Pandemic

UPS operations and The UPS Store locations have been designated by the Governors’ offices in all 50 states as critical infrastructure and will continue to pick up and deliver, even in restricted areas.

With UPS My Choice, customers can tell their UPS driver where to leave their deliveries, redirect deliveries to another address and receive notifications on when to expect deliveries from UPS.

Customers with a delivery location preference already set for somewhere other than their home can update it at any time by logging in to their UPS My Choice account here.