Open A Not-For-Profit Community Cafe in Eugene
Donation protected
Hi, we're Corey and Miranda with the community group Lunch People. We are raising funds to open a not-for-profit community café: a neighborhood eatery and resource hub which will encourage food producers, service industry professionals, aid groups and individuals to work together, engage in the community and address hunger. Our mission is to reduce hunger and strengthen the community by investing in food security and celebrating health. The café will serve a daily donation-based hot meal, feature an outdoor free community fridge and pantry, offer workshops and classes, and operate a job training program for youth. Running a not-for-profit café will allow for consistent fundraising to support our mission through food, beverage, and merchandise sales, special event catering and space sharing.
The space we are fundraising to rent is located at 769 Monroe St. in Eugene, adjacent to Sweet Life Patisserie. We intend to take over the lease by February 2021 and offer a new menu featuring coffee, tap drinks, and wholesome plant-based meals with an emphasis on local ingredients. The property has a full commercial kitchen, small dining room and service counter, two restrooms and a side patio. The lease is $1850 per month, and we would be responsible for paying utilities, insurance, inventory expenses and all the other costs associated with running a small food business. Existing furniture, furnishings and equipment will be leased free for one year by the current business owner, saving us a lot of money in start-up costs if we meet our goal in time!
We’re left with with a financial need of $30,000 to get the café started and make sure we can cover our first year of costs. I am organizing two stages of community fundraising, starting with a GoFundMe goal of $20,000 to be transferred to the business bank account once our LLC is formed and cover filing fees, building deposit, cleaning costs, etc., plus ensure we can pay the first six months of rent and one employee’s salary. Once we're closer to opening, our second funding request of $10,000 will cover initial inventory and additional equipment needs. You can explore our plan further at our website.
When my partner and I were both furloughed from Meiji in March, we became Lunch People and started to cook and distribute weekly free lunches at a public park, using ingredients donated by local producers and contributions from neighbors. We soon had a group of eight volunteers and by the end of October had served over 1,500 free meals. In the process we learned two hard lessons: First, operating the way we were wouldn’t be sustainable in the long run, and secondly, our community needs more.
We are fortunate to be surrounded by the agricultural bounty and abundant natural resources of the Willamette Valley, in a fertile agricultural zone where so many world-class food and beverage products are grown, harvested, foraged, and produced locally. It’s no surprise to find diners proud to eat local, in a community so committed to sustainability. Despite this, Lane County's food insecurity rate was reported at 13% by Feeding America in 2018 and is projected to reach 18% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are at higher risk than others: communities of color, recent immigrants, families with children, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community are disproportionately affected. Food insecurity negatively impacts physical and mental health, erodes workplace productivity and is linked to decreased learning capabilities, especially in young school age children.
By opening the community café, we will impact hunger by improving quality food access in a dignified and easily accessible manner. A community café will foster cooperation between our nonprofit sector and local businesses, and provide a safe space for aid groups to coexist. We will address immediate hunger with donation-based meals and a free community fridge and pantry, and make lasting impact by offering education and support toward sourcing and preparing quality food. Please donate to our campaign and bring real, good food to the people!
The space we are fundraising to rent is located at 769 Monroe St. in Eugene, adjacent to Sweet Life Patisserie. We intend to take over the lease by February 2021 and offer a new menu featuring coffee, tap drinks, and wholesome plant-based meals with an emphasis on local ingredients. The property has a full commercial kitchen, small dining room and service counter, two restrooms and a side patio. The lease is $1850 per month, and we would be responsible for paying utilities, insurance, inventory expenses and all the other costs associated with running a small food business. Existing furniture, furnishings and equipment will be leased free for one year by the current business owner, saving us a lot of money in start-up costs if we meet our goal in time!
We’re left with with a financial need of $30,000 to get the café started and make sure we can cover our first year of costs. I am organizing two stages of community fundraising, starting with a GoFundMe goal of $20,000 to be transferred to the business bank account once our LLC is formed and cover filing fees, building deposit, cleaning costs, etc., plus ensure we can pay the first six months of rent and one employee’s salary. Once we're closer to opening, our second funding request of $10,000 will cover initial inventory and additional equipment needs. You can explore our plan further at our website.
When my partner and I were both furloughed from Meiji in March, we became Lunch People and started to cook and distribute weekly free lunches at a public park, using ingredients donated by local producers and contributions from neighbors. We soon had a group of eight volunteers and by the end of October had served over 1,500 free meals. In the process we learned two hard lessons: First, operating the way we were wouldn’t be sustainable in the long run, and secondly, our community needs more.
We are fortunate to be surrounded by the agricultural bounty and abundant natural resources of the Willamette Valley, in a fertile agricultural zone where so many world-class food and beverage products are grown, harvested, foraged, and produced locally. It’s no surprise to find diners proud to eat local, in a community so committed to sustainability. Despite this, Lane County's food insecurity rate was reported at 13% by Feeding America in 2018 and is projected to reach 18% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are at higher risk than others: communities of color, recent immigrants, families with children, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community are disproportionately affected. Food insecurity negatively impacts physical and mental health, erodes workplace productivity and is linked to decreased learning capabilities, especially in young school age children.
By opening the community café, we will impact hunger by improving quality food access in a dignified and easily accessible manner. A community café will foster cooperation between our nonprofit sector and local businesses, and provide a safe space for aid groups to coexist. We will address immediate hunger with donation-based meals and a free community fridge and pantry, and make lasting impact by offering education and support toward sourcing and preparing quality food. Please donate to our campaign and bring real, good food to the people!
Organizer
Miranda McKeever
Organizer
Eugene, OR