It's been three weeks since restaurants across the province were once again hit with more restrictions.

When Premier Kenney announced stricter measures to 'stop the spike' of rapidly rising COVID-19 cases on May 4, the food and beverage industry was once again limited to take-out, delivery and curbside pick-up.

While restaurants continue to face challenges brought on by the pandemic, a local restaurant owner continues to give back to the community he calls his family.

Last week the owner of Mehtab East Indian Cuisine, Jag Thind handed over a hefty cheque to the Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area, funds which he raised from a Mother's Day weekend initiative.

"We were so fortunate to be busy on Mother's Day and really the whole weekend was pretty good," says Thind. "We raised $513.00 for The Boys and Girls Club in Cochrane."

Less than two weeks after launching their pop-up patio, Mehtab East Indian Cuisine was forced to close it.

Still, that very same weekend Thind put aside $1.00 from every dish that was ordered to donate to the local Boys and Girls Club.

Thind says that although it's been a tough year, he feels fortunate to still be able to operate his business, and he wanted to give back to the community.

"Cochrane is amazing, it feels like we're serving our family members," says Thind. "People come in and they're so happy that we're still here. Every day that motivates us."

Back in February Jag and the folks at Mehtab ran a similar initiative in support of the Activettes, and in turn, they raised $500 to aid the food bank.

Restaurants across the province had to shut down operations completely back in March, and since then they have mostly been limited to delivery and take-out orders. Thind says that his restaurant has been empty for over a year now.

"We have a capacity of 95 seats and it's been closed for almost a year now," explains Thind.

Despite strict limitations, Mehtab has been giving back to the community throughout the course of the pandemic. They have been offering free meals for residents in need, and Jag personally spent Christmas Eve delivering free holiday meals to Cochranites spending the holidays alone.