SANFORD, Fla. – Shantell Williams-McGee is now part of the Pepsi Dig In program that is focused on supporting Black-owned restaurants around the country providing them resources so they can thrive.
During a surprise visit to her Sanford restaurant, Williams-McGee was presented with a check.
“We want to get you started with the program and present you with a check for $15,000!” said Derek Lewis, president of the Multicultural Business & Equity Development division for PepsiCo. “You have meant so much to this community. I know last year, this year [have] been difficult. The part we want to do is lift people up.”
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It’s been a struggle the last two years for Williams-McGee, owner of Shantell’s Just Until restaurant in Sanford where her fried chicken is her specialty.
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“Every day I talk to the team about when they’re feeling -- somebody is always feeling a little down, and so we get in here it’s about treatin’ people how you want to be treated,” Williams-McGee said. “I keep telling them don’t give up, don’t give up.”
The mother of 10 never gave up on her dream restaurant which she opened in 2012. To be able to keep her employees and keep the lights on, she raffled off one of her most prized possessions in December: her Harley Davidson, which she rode to 48 states.
“Although the bike didn’t raise a whole lot of money, every time, every Wednesday when paycheck came nobody’s check bounced,” Williams-McGee said. “It was just about gettin’ through and my husband’s got a bike so I can always steal his.”
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But now things are looking brighter. The surprise of a lifetime didn’t just include $15,000 but also a surprise phone call from Pinky Cole, a famous restaurateur and the founder of the Pinky Cole Foundation.
It’s her faith in the good of the people that Williams-McGee said keeps her going despite the hardships of running a restaurant.
“People. Our PPP is people protecting people and so as long as we have that, man, ain’t nothing too big,” she said.