Cafe Moxo employees serve community while location is closed

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - The fire on Adams Street last month forced Café Moxo to close its doors, leaving nearly a dozen employees without a place to work. But instead of asking employees to find new places to work, Café Moxo's owner is paying them to volunteer throughout Springfield.

"I need 2,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a week to feed 12 different shelters for the homeless and those in poverty in Springfield," said Kathy Smith, Founder of PBJ Springfield, a nonprofit that provides food to hundreds of people in Springfield each week. "They came forward to make as many sandwiches as they could for me today while they are off work."

Eleven Café Moxo employees are volunteering all over the Springfield area, helping with everything from cleaning up the downtown area to helping local charities. But volunteering with PBJ Springfield gives these employees a small sense of normalcy as they usually spend the lunch rush making one of Café Moxo's 17 different sandwich options.

"Everyone needs to eat, so if you can do that and also provide good customer service and help someone out along the way, it really makes you feel good," said Brandon Hughes, General Manager of Café Moxo.

While the future of Café Moxo is still unknown, Hughes says this is a good opportunity to give back to the community that has supported the restaurant since 2007. Even while the building is closed, community members have still shown their support for after the they reopen.

"When I walk down the street, people will say 'I can't wait for you guys to come back and have your food,' said Hughes. "It makes you feel good and makes you realize that what you are doing really is serving a purpose in the community."