PORTSMOUTH, Va. - A local church and family-owned coffee shop are joining forces to warm the bellies of shipyard workers waiting for temperature checks.
Norfolk Naval Shipyard currently requires personnel to undergo temperature checks and answer health-related questions before entering. The measures are to keep people experiencing COVID-19 symptoms from spreading coronavirus to others on base.
HAPPENING NOW: FREE coffee for Norfolk Naval Shipyard workers waiting for temperature checks. #Portsmouth’s The Coffee Shoppe & Restore Church partnering to make it happen all week! Everyone loves a warm belly! #goodnews https://t.co/3qB0TmKge8 #covid #coronavirus @WTKR3 pic.twitter.com/MnZA7xWnxa
— Anthony Sabella (@AnthonyWTKR) May 7, 2020
Marc Neppl, pastor at Restore Church, which sits just down the street from the shipyard gate, tells News 3 his wife noticed long lines while employees waited to be screened.
He enlisted the help of his friend, Angela Clark, who owns The Coffee Shoppe on High Street.
Every morning this week between 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., Clark and her employees have set up a cart along Port Centre Parkway, offering free coffee to shipyard workers who are waiting.
"(We're) just trying to spread good cheer as folks are waiting for temp checks," she said.
Clark says she's planning to come out every morning through at least the end of the week.
Restore Church and The Coffee Shoppe are also partnering to offer free coffee to mothers on Friday and Saturday, May 8 and 9, in honor of Mother's Day.
The coffee will be available at the cafe's High Street location.
