ROCHELLE –The City of Rochelle and the Rochelle Chamber of Commerce have created a program to help support local restaurants, as they have been hit hard during these tough times.  

With all restaurants in the state of Illinois forced to close their dining rooms and serve only through carryout or delivery, many of them are struggling to make ends meet. To help bring business to these local restaurants, the city and chamber have launched the Rochelle Restaurant Gift Card Giveaway.

For the giveaway, an individual purchases food from a local restaurant or different local restaurants, five times. Then, the individual takes a photo of his or her receipts, sends them to the City of Rochelle’s Facebook page and receives a gift card as a reward. 

The receipts can be from any combination of local restaurants and the gift card is worth $25 to any local restaurant of the individual’s choice. The city and chamber plan to continue giving away gift cards until they have reached 30.

Many local restaurants are relying on the community’s support to make it through the current situation. Both the City of Rochelle and the Rochelle Chamber of Commerce started this program to help support local restaurants now, so they can continue to serve the community in the future. 

“We want to encourage people to support our local restaurants as they have been hit hard by COVID-19,” said Jenny Thompson, director of marketing, public relations and tourism. “We want to keep the people working and keep those places open, so they are here once COVID-19 is gone.”