It was mid-March and restaurateurs Francie Nguyen, Jimmy Plouff and Frankie Victoria Bañuelos Estrada watched as theirs and other local businesses closed as the coronavirus began to spread in Mexico.
Tourism in Puerto Vallarta – one of Mexico’s premier tourist destinations – had abruptly stopped and thousands of local people were out of work, with no end in sight.
“We thought we should do something to help,” recalled Nguyen. Plouff and Bañuelos had already closed their restaurant, Tunnel Row Barbecue, and turned it into a food pantry for the neighborhood, but wanted to do more.