Restauranteur Recognized for His Generosity During Height of Pandemic Shutdown
Billy Georgiou, owner of The Burg Bar and Grill and Maria’s Greek Family Restaurant both located in St. Petersburg, is being honored by The Burg Exchange Club with a Book of Golden Deeds Award, which recognizes those who give endless hours of their time and talents toward making their communities better places to live. The Burg Exchange honors him for ensuring that anyone who was hungry could get a complete breakfast for free and warm greetings during COVID closures.
David Bates, president of The Burg Exchange Club says, “Billy’s upbeat and optimistic personality is magnetic and energizing and his gift to people is an inspiration for almost anyone who meets him.”
The idea for the free breakfasts started as an ordering fluke when Billy ended up with an abundant amount of pancake mixture. As the pandemic began to shut things down, Billy couldn’t allow anyone into his restaurant, but he decided to start giving away pancakes to help people impacted by the shutdown. Soon word of his generosity to help people that were hungry spread and he initially served over 1,000 pancakes in just the first few weeks of COVID.
“Billy turned his ordering error and a health emergency into something positive for the community,” adds Bates. “Instead of looking at the situation as a negative, he turned it around to a positive. The Exchange Club looks to honor people like Billy who look beyond themselves and work to help others in their community.”
The Burg Exchange Club, a chapter of the National Exchange Club, is honoring Billy for going above and beyond in helping people in need on Tuesday, October 20 at Ford’s Garage, 200 First Avenue South, St. Petersburg. Meeting and presentation of award begins at 7 p.m. The public is invited. Free parking is available above the restaurant.
ABOUT BOOK OF GOLDEN DEEDS AWARD
The Book of Golden Deeds Award is an Exchange Club program that honors a worthy person or group that continuously donates time, talent and energy to help those in need. Many times fine citizens of our community do numerous good deeds that go unnoticed. This award is designed to honor these unsung heroes.
ABOUT EXCHANGE CLUB
Exchange, America’s Premier Service Club with 700 clubs and more than 20,000 members throughout the United States, works to make our communities better places to live. The Burg Exchange Club meets every first and third Tuesday of the month at Ford’s Garage in downtown St. Petersburg. To learn more about the club, please visit www.facebook.com/BurgExchange or email burgexchangeclub@gmail.com.
Press Contact:
David Bates, Club President, davidbatesgroup@gmail.com or 727-744-4606.