COLUMBUS (WCMH) – Some local restaurants have yet to return to in-person dining and rely on carryout and delivery options to keep their doors open.

Such is the case for Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace, a popular local restaurant in the heart of downtown Columbus. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Dirty Frank’s managed to donate more than 10,000 meals for those in need during 2020.

Now, the restaurant aims to feed more in 2021.

“Food is, it’s a basic human right, so we wanted to make sure we kept going with that,” said Miriam Ailabouni, Frank’s social media and marketing director.

Dirty Frank’s is known for its premium specialty hot dogs, unique décor, and giving back to the community it serves.

“With food insecurity skyrocketing during the pandemic, it just made sense to partner with Neighborhood Services Inc., who we were partnering with before the shutdown,” Ailabouni said.

A local charity serving those in need, and the partnership is called Dogs for a Cause.

“Dogs for a Cause actually started in 2017,” Ailabouni said. “We wanted to do more with our community.”

Originally, Dirty Frank’s would partner with a different non-profit organization each month.

“We would push out their services via social media and marketing to tell the community more about them,” Ailabouni said.

And how they aim to serve their hungry neighbors.

“We felt like Columbus is so fortunate to have so many resources and services at its disposal and we wanted to make sure we got the word out there,” Ailabouni said.

Throughout the pandemic, Dirty Frank’s has relied on a loyal customer base and a large portion of sales from its food trucks.

“We feel like continuing to rally around an organization like Neighborhood Services Inc. allows us to keep going,” Ailabouni said.

Thriving with a positive mission, with the help of their customers, Dirty Frank’s gave away more than 10,000 wiener box meals last year.

“For every wiener box you buy, we then give a meal back,” Ailabouni said. “We also allow the option of purchasing the $11 value of a wiener box and then we, in turn, can give 20 meals.”

Frank’s also hopes to reopen for dining at some point in 2021.

“We’ve already purchased plexiglass barriers for between tables,” Ailabouni said. “We’ve installed a whole restaurant purifier to sanitize the air.”

In the meantime, getting hot dogs out to the people with Dogs for a Cause continues.

“Moving forward, we hope to return to monthly initiatives where we can partner with different organizations every month,” Ailabouni said.