Southport - Olive Garden brought over 700 hundred free lunches today around the country to firefighters, police officers, hospital staff's and military personnel.

The Olive Garden on highway 77 brought lasagna, salad, and breadsticks to the Emergency Operations Center in Southport today.

Several 911 dispatchers, firefighters, and police officers enjoyed the free lunch. Olive Garden service manager James Buttrick says this is Olive Gardens way of saying "hospitaliano" or thank you to those who work so hard in the community.

"Today's my day off, but I’m still out here joining my two co-workers and giving back to the community this is my favorite part of it," said Buttrick.