Finding the silver lining through the "Feel Good Movement" in South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Stay-at-Home orders as a result of the pandemic have been hard on everyone but the "Feel Good Movement" in South Lake Tahoe has been a force in the creation of joy.

Lake Tahoe AleWorx owner Luca Genasci started off December 2020 with a goal of supporting as many local businesses as possible through the holiday season while also helping feed those in need of a good meal. He announced he'd put up a $100 tab at a different spot each day for anyone to go in and eat/drink with until the tab was gone. This helped both the business and the hungry during a time when needed.

The Feel Good Movement quickly gain momentum and Genasci was joined by Brian and Kim Cohen, owners of Overland Meat & Seafood Company. The Cohens held several free hamburger days through the past ten months of the pandemic, giving away thousands of pounds to those in need of food and they were quickly on board with Luca.

The $100 per day was added to by the Cohens, members of the public and other business owners to where it hit over $1,000 in tabs at local restaurants and breweries per day.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department joined in during its 12 Days of Kindness, adding gift cards to the efforts. The City of South Lake Tahoe donated $10,000 to help feed those in need via Luca and Brian's initiative. Collectively, the total injected into the community through the Feel Good Movement was $35,000.

The City's contribution allowed for the purchase of gift cards from local restaurants and were given to those served by the South Lake Tahoe Family Resource Center, Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe, Live Violence Free, and Tahoe Youth & Family Services.

All of the businesses who had tabs started by the movement: Revive Coffee & Wine, Bert's Cafe, Maria's Mexican Restaurant, Yellow Sub Sandwich Shop, Third Man Taphouse and Deli, Jalapeño's, Snow Flake Drive In, Margarita's Mexican Restaurant, Chicken in a Barrel, Jalisco's, Ernie's Coffee Shop, Gastromaniac Homemade Pasta & Pizza, Sidellis Lake Tahoe, Artemis Mediterranean Grill, Frescana Mexican Bistro, Grand Central Pizza & Pasta, La Promesa, Alpina Coffee Café, Burger Lounge, Red Hut Café, Keys Café, The Brewery at Lake Tahoe, 10 Crows BBQ, Los Mexicanos, Black Cabin Coffee, Chico's Burger, Tep's Villa Roma, Dragon Fly Bagel Co., Primo's Italian Bistro.

The initiative doesn't have to end with what was started....are you ready to pay it forward?