Mattu, 68, opened the restaurant in 1991, later joined by Jeet India in Beavercreek and an Amar India location in north Dayton. While racking up accolades and awards, the restaurant also has raised money for various causes – most recently, The Foodbank, Inc.
All three restaurant locations offered a free Thanksgiving day lunch buffet, collecting donations for the nonprofit organization that provides food to partner agencies feeding the hungry in Montgomery, Greene and Preble counties.
Mattu estimates that the restaurants served between 600 and 700 visitors that day and expects to present close to $9,000 to The Foodbank when all donations have been collected.
Every dollar donated turns into four meals, said Amber Wright, marketing lead at The Foodbank.
“He has helped feed a lot of families with this campaign,” she said.
Wright said this fundraiser stood out because of its compassion and because the restaurant didn’t seek any marketing or thanks. Mattu insisted that the Thanksgiving buffet be promoted as free instead of pay-what-you-wish, Wright said.
When she visited the north Dayton location at 7070 Miller Lane on the holiday, she noticed that a worker even held a sign encouraging passers-by to come in and eat for free. She knows that people experiencing homelessness frequent that area, and giving them and those at all the restaurant locations a warm place to eat on a day during which most places are closed was generous.
“(Mattu) was more focused on reaching the people in need than reaching the donors,” she said.
Others that want to hold a food or fund drive on the organization’s behalf can contact The Foodbank to learn more, Wright said.
Amar India has held similar fundraisers throughout the years, raising money, for example, after the Sept. 11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina and for other causes, Mattu said. Overall, the restaurants have raised tens of thousands of dollars for various causes.
Mattu moved from India to the United States as a 24-year-old in 1981, first settling in Boston. He worked at an Indian restaurant there, as a dishwasher and then helping the cook. He moved to Houston before relocating in 1984 to Dayton, where his sister’s husband was a professor at the University of Dayton.
He credits the help of the local community for the success of the restaurant, which also offers catering in Ohio and surrounding states. Its growth might not have happened in a city like Chicago or New York, said Mattu, who has two grown children with his wife, Jatinder.
“I’m a part of the community, and I’m very happy I came to Dayton,” he said.
While Amar India has received numerous honors over the years – including this year being selected once again as having the “Best Indian Food” in the Dayton Daily News’ Best of Dayton awards – Wright gives the restaurant props for fighting hunger without asking for recognition.
“We’re really lucky to have them as part of our community and as neighbors in the Dayton area,” Wright said.
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