Restaurant donates 1/2 of proceeds to Officer Ainsworth

OXFORD, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Granville County restaurant, owned by former Raleigh police officers, is helping a brother-in-blue shot in the line of duty.

Uptown 101 decided to donate half of all food sales on Tuesday and Wednesday to the family of Officer Charles Ainsworth.

The Raleigh police officer continues his recovery at Wake Med three weeks after getting shot.

"I kind of knew the danger out there," said Shernita Powell. "I was just worried and I wanted to do something to support him and his family."

Powell and her husband David have owned the restaurant in downtown Oxford for a year and a half.

She spent six years with the Raleigh Police Department; her husband served even longer. Both also served in the Army.

"It's a brother and sisterhood," she said. "Even though I'm not on the police department anymore, I still consider myself part of that camaraderie so it's always that feeling. We go out there every day to try and protect the community and unfortunately, we have some people that just don't like the police."

Customers can also write words of encouragement for Officer Ainsworth on their way out of the restaurant.

"This is a small town and we a lot of things to support our local police and our local sheriff's department," said Jack Cummins, a regular at Uptown. "I think it means a lot to the community that they want to reach out and help different causes."

Powell said her husband was also shot in the line of duty back in the early 2000s so she can relate to what the family is going through.

The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner.