My miracle story: Feeding 5,000 during COVID-19 when the world shut down

My miracle story: When COVID-19 shut down dine-in restaurants, Al Laudencia of Big Al's BBQ & Catering faced missing payroll and wasting smoked meat. Inspired by Jesus feeding 5,000 (Mark 6:37-44), he gave away free meals via Facebook, sparking volunteers, donations, and media coverage. He believes this experience is a miracle story of faith and provision.

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By Al Laudencia 

I own two restaurants, a catering company and a food trailer. When the state closed dine-in restaurants because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was freaking out. Not outwardly, of course, but I was scared. 

My wife Besty and I have three daughters, Taylor, Lily and Emma. Big Al's BBQ & Catering employs dozens of people. It’s our livelihood. Everything is riding on our businesses. 

Quickly, I changed our business model. We temporarily closed our 600-seat restaurant in Des Moines and decided to keep our 80-seat restaurant in Adel, a town about 20 miles west, open to drive up and take out. 

We were in an impossible situation. We’re close to a $3 million outfit. We had to close just before the weekend, which is when we do 70 percent of our business. 

I reached out to our accountant and he said: “I don’t know if we’re going to make our $10,000 payroll. Your employees won’t be able to get paid, and neither will you.”

I prayed. 

I pray continuously. I’m always asking God for direction. 

Each morning, I get up and tell God thank you, and I ask for direction, how he wants to use my day. And I ask God to help me let go of my expectations. To let go what I think should be done, my expectations, and allow his expectations, what God wants to be done.   

I have been angry before at God, but I’m past that. Was I confused? Yes. Was it uncomfortable? Yes. But I trusted. I knew God was in it the whole time.

The miracle of feeding 5,000 people during the pandemic

I’m talking to my accountant, and I’m also thinking about all this meat that we bought for the weekend -- it’s smoked up and ready to go, but our dining room was closed.

“What are you going to do, Al?” my account asked. 

“We have two choices,” I said. “We can throw it away, because it’s going to expire, or we could try to sell it. But that’s not reasonable. We’re going to give it away.”

I prayed about it more, and then I put it on Facebook: This is what we’re doing, we’re giving away free meals. 

My mantra is Mark 6: 37-44. People said it was impossible. The disciples had five loaves and two fish, but Jesus fed 5,000.

I thought, “Maybe God has a reason for this.”

Feeding 4,000 more people during the pandemic

That Friday night, we lined up our parking lot in Adel like our catering company and offered free meals. 

That first Friday of quarantine, we gave away free pulled pork and beef brisket sandwiches with house kettle chips. Saturday was BBQ chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and green beans.

Families lined up in our parking lot and then people started to help, volunteering to serve meals. People started offering donations. 

We made payroll that week. I’m not sure how, but we did. But we weren’t done.

People were offering to sponsor free meals, so we kept cooking. Local businesses started to donate what they could. Each night, we were feeding at least 150 people.

We ran out of food and had to order more.

It started to snowball. More donations came in. News crews showed up. We cooked more meals and more people were fed. We started offering free meals to local hospitals and police and fire departments. We fed children who qualify for the free lunch at school. We fed truck drivers and other essential workers.

Here’s the miracle. Our numbers were the best they’ve ever been. How does that happen? It doesn’t make sense, serving only take out, giving away free meals. I had fewer employees and received more. 

We fed 5,000 people. But then my buddy said: “Al, what about Mark 8: 1-21?” Jesus fed 4,000 more. So we kept cooking.

It was truly a God thing. From March 20 to May 20, we fed more than 9,700 people. 

Sometimes I go to church, I listen to the pastor preach, and I read the Bible, but the stories don't always seem real. 

But here it is, a miracle, and it’s real. 

It’s amazing and I’m blessed, that’s for sure. It’s definitely the hand of God.

Al Laudencia owns Big Al's BBQ & Catering, which includes restaurants in South Des Moines and Adel. He lives with his wife and three daughters in Adel.  Follow Big Al on Facebook @bigalsbbqdsm.

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