YOUNGSTOWN - The bowling alley and entertainment venue Westside Bowl on Mahoning Avenue partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank to feed residents of the Youngstown area.

Customers can drop off monetary and food donations at the business who collect the items for the organization. 

Second Harvest Food Bank is a non-profit organization that collects and distributes food to hunger relief programs in Trumbull, Mahoning, and Columbiana counties.

Co-owner Nathan Offerdahl says he partners with the food bank because he feels it is important to be generous to the community that supports his business.

"Around the holidays especially, I think it's especially important to remember, especially if you're fortunate, to give back," he said.

They started donating to Second Harvest around the time SNAP benefits ended during the government shutdown. They plan to continue the donations until at least the end of the holidays.

Offerdahl says the more generous the business is, the busier they get.

"If you want to call it marketing, you can call it that, we would just call it radical hospitality," he said.

Westside Bowl continued a COVID-19 pandemic-era program called Pay it Forward where for every $10 a customer donates, the venue donates one 12-inch pizza to those in need.

After a high volume of orders and donations, Westside Bowl continued the program indefinitely.

Offerdahl believes the kitchen has given out between 3000 and 4000 pizzas since Pay It Forward began again.

The kitchen takes Pay It Forward pizza orders from noon to 3 p.m..

Offerdahl and his wife Jami opened Westside Bowl in 2018.

The venue has live music and bowling alleys as well as a bar and arcade.