Club president Matthew Chilcott said the initiative came out of a discussion with The Deck Shepparton manager Frankie Lagana, after the venue was forced to shut its doors due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“The Deck is one of our major sponsors, and we would traditionally support them by buying food and drinks,” Mr Chilcott said.
“The club was keen to help him save some money.”
Mr Lagana said the past couple of months had been tough, especially as the business had had to pivot to offer home delivery five nights a week, after only offering it one afternoon a week.
“The cost of doing delivery is a lot more than expected,” Mr Lagana said.
“So (the club's) help is an expense saved for the business.”
Mr Lagana said this support had also allowed some of his staff to take a night off.
He said staff that were eligible for JobKeeper had applied and received the payment, but conceded workers had been stood down for his business to survive.
Mr Lagana said he would plan to open up The Deck for up to 20 dine-in patrons from June 1, but was going to make the final decision once official guidelines were released in the next few days.
He said he was thankful for the support of the community, and was looking forward to seeing his customers soon.
“The first four weeks were crazy busy with support from the community and other hospitality and local businesses,” he said.
“I'm just looking forward to saying g'day to customers and the locals.”
Mr Chilcott is also looking forward to The Deck reopening, and footy starting again.