See you at the Curbside Table Soon
Table family,
You’ve heard me say this before, but it deserves to be said again: Navigating our mission in a pandemic has been a challenge.
Community is--and always has been--the heart of our mission. So when the pandemic first hit and critical services for those in need shut down, we knew Table had to step up. We pivoted our operations to provide over 300 free meals a day to those in our community with nowhere else to get a meal. It was a no-brainer...a natural extension of what we do.
Over the past 6 months, we’ve given out over 8,000 biscuits, 30,000 eggs, and more cups of coffee than we can count. Table family, you showed up for us and helped us meet this unprecedented need. We couldn’t be more grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Over the past few weeks, though, the number of folks visiting daily for free meals skyrocketed. We were forced to pivot again, moving our focus from building community and providing good food to serving as many meals as possible. It was a tipping point for us.
Quantity over quality--that’s not the Table way. That’s not living our mission to the fullest. We knew we needed to pause, reevaluate the needs of our community, and recenter our values.
Over the past 2 weeks, our staff and board have worked hard to re-imagine how we can get back to our mission of providing community and good food for all, regardless of means, in a safe way.
We are so excited to re-open on October 24th from 8am-1pm! Moving forward, we will be open Wednesday- Sunday. Knowing we can’t bring our community together over food in the cafe right now, we are partnering with area nonprofits to expand opportunities for folks to come together, utilize resources, and get meal tokens.
We will take orders for meals-to-go both over the phone and curbside. We are asking all our diners to do one of the following:
Pay the suggested price
Pay a donation of $3 for their meal
Or pay with a token from a nonprofit partner
The exception to this will be for our families with children, who are always welcome to order a meal free of charge
I am also so thrilled to announce 2020 Set the Table campaign. Many of you have attended our fall fundraiser each year. This year, we are bringing the community together around a series of events brought together by an online fundraiser to spread awareness and celebrate the cafe’s mission. We would love for you to be a part of our campaign, whether you host a ‘Biscuits and Burpees workout class’, a small dinner in your own quarantine bubble, and/or sign up to be a sustainer. Any way you would like to participate will allow us to build community together and provide a place at the table for so many.
Yall, we are so thankful for you. We could not do this without you. You are our community and you make this work beautiful each day. See you at the curbside Table soon.
Real hugs,
Maggie Kane