WINDSOR, ONT. -- A Walkerville restaurant packed up its goods to create a mobile diner to serve transport drivers free meals amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the help of generous donations from the community, Generations Diner will be barbequing fresh hot meals for transport drivers on April 1 and April 2, between 5 to 7 p.m. at 6395 County Road #46.

“What these guys are doing are kind of like our lifeline now. Just like the doctors, nurses and the CP Rail, they’re what’s keeping us alive right now, so we need to take care of them,” says Vikki Trealout, mother of Generations Diner’s owner.

Drivers from across the country have noted the difficulties of finding a place to use the bathroom, get food or rest.

“They just refuse us and it’s really sad,” says Joe Marchand, a truck driver of 23 years. He says many of his colleagues have been turned away at restaurants and rest stops because staff are scared of the spread of coronavirus.

“People are so fearful that they’re not willing to take the risk,” says Marchand. “They’re not willing to service us because they know we crossed the border, they know we’re in and out of all different cities.”

Marchand says another roadblock is unsanitary rest stops.

“There’s less employees working, service is down and what they’re trying to do to keep the location clean is a problem,” he says.

He now has to prep his own food ahead of time.

These are the factors that inspired the Generations Diner team to take action and feed the truck drivers.

“It’s okay for them to bring you your supplies, but it’s not okay for you to feed them a meal?” says Trealout. “There’s something wrong with that picture. Without them, frankly everything here would stop. They’re what delivers our medical supplies, fill our grocery stores, they’re the ones that keep everything rolling, so we need to make sure they’re fed.”