theeagle.com
Saturday July 20, 2019
The Scullery, a Greenville, N.C., diner had a good night Wednesday, serving more than 500 customers and bringing in more than $5,600 in sales.
Visitors to the Scullery were met with a sign explaining where those sales proceeds would be going.
It read, “100% of today’s sales will be donated to American Immigration Council in order to help with the immigration crisis at our southern border, and to celebrate our diverse community.”
“The president’s visit started to stir up some negative feelings in our community, and we wanted to make a statement of positivity about how special our community is,” owner Matthew Scully told CNN. “(Greenville) is a diverse place full of all kinds of different people. All that diversity makes our city a better place.”
President Donald Trump’s latest rally, in Greenville on Wednesday, included a pause during a
segment about Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. — a native of Somalia but a U.S. citizen — where the crowd chanted “send her back.”
Scully said that finding out about the chanting was especially disappointing.
“Industry, agriculture, our culture in general, our food culture is made stronger, better and more interesting by immigrant culture,” Scully said. “To hear those sentiments come from my community was really discouraging.”
The American Immigration Council thanked the restaurant in a statement.
“Our hope is that more stories like this get lifted up to show that the welcoming spirit is alive and well in America,” the organization said. “We are so proud that they are part of the Council family.”