Staff reports 9:52 a.m.
Monday, May 4, 2026 9:43 am

From left, McClelland School mascot 'Might Mac,' Bad Brgr owner Justin Spencer and McClelland School Principal Maegan Jerr. (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - Bad Brgr owner and Recycled Percussion star Justin Spencer made a promise that he would donate $1,000 to provide Rochester first-graders with free lunches, and late last month he made the presentation to McClelland School Principal Maegan Jerr.

Spencer opened his Rochester Bad Brgr on April 18 promising "an experience" and a party-like atmosphere like nowhere else.

He said making the donation was very important to him because growing up the family household often struggled to make ends meet.

"On behalf of all of us at Bad Brgr, I stopped by the McClelland Elementary school in Rochester today and donated to pay for school lunches for first-graders citywide," he said. "Growing up my family was fortunate to have the lunch program. When I was a kid you would get a little red or blue token depending if you were free lunch or reduced lunch. I remember how embarrassed I was to walk through the line and hand a token. So I would often just pretend I wasn't hungry and not eat. Now they have better systems in place so children don't feel that burden mentally, but the fact remains that many families struggle or maybe make poor choices and kids are the ones left to suffer. So today we donated to help spread that love and fill some bellies along the way. Thank you Rochester for giving us a chance to be apart of YOUR community. We have loved every minute of it so far."

Bad Brgr has two restaurants in Manchester where Spencer grew up, but he said when he decided to open a third, he knew it would be Rochester.
"I chose Rochester personally," he grinned. "This restaurant is my brain child. I love Rochester. It's thriving and we have a great fan base here."
In 2017, Recycled Percussion started Chaos & Kindness, a television and web series that gives back to charitable causes in communities throughout New Hampshire.
Bad Brgr is located at the former site of New England Pizza at 195 Wakefield St. in the newly refurbished Lilac Plaza.
They will also soon be opening their fourth Bad Brgr in Nashua.