Common Table in The Bulletin:

Posted on June 30, 2010 by zhancock

Bend restaurant takes different path

Common Table to operate as nonprofit, offer food vouchers for underprivileged

By David Holley By Kate Ramsayer / The Bulletin The Bulletin

Last modified: June 29. 2010 5:44AM PST
A group of Central Oregonians is planning to open a nonprofit restaurant in downtown Bend in August that will use excess funds from its sales to provide free meals to low-income and homeless community members.

The cafe, to be called Common Table and run by a group with the same name, is opening in the space on Oregon Avenue formerly occupied by Cork, a fine-dining restaurant that sold its assets to Common Table and closed earlier this month after nine years in operation. The cafe’s premise is to create a space for both privileged individuals, who pay for meals, and the underprivileged, who will receive donated meal vouchers, to dine together, said cafe organizer Zach Hancock.

“We wanted to value humans, humanity, and highly value the Earth (on) which we live,” Hancock said. “We have a high priority to be a good contribution to Bend.”

To operate as a nonprofit, Common Table must donate a certain amount of its revenues, about 15 to 20 percent, according to group members. It will do that through the vouchers, which work like gift cards and allow individuals to use them as if they were cash.

Common Table signed a three-year lease Friday for the former Cork space, and is now renovating the restaurant. The group is in discussions with other nonprofits, such as NeighborImpact and the Family Access Network, which may distribute the vouchers, said Bob Pearson, a group founder and Bend resident who moved here nine years ago after retiring from a career in California’s Silicon Valley.

Pearson said customers will be able to buy vouchers at a discounted rate and give them to people asking for money on the street. A $10 voucher might cost a customer $8, he said.

“For most people, they come by and it’ll look like any other restaurant,” Pearson said.

He said the restaurant will have box lunches for people who may need a shower, adding that they won’t turn people away who need a meal, but that the restaurant, like any other, will still maintain requirements for dining inside.

Nonprofit restaurants aren’t new.

John Hamilton, vice president of communications for the Oregon Restaurant Association, said most restaurants participate in some kind of philanthropic activity. Others have operated on a pay-what-you-will basis to determine the value of food and market positioning with limited success, he said.

“One of the truths in our industry is that nine out of 10 restaurants are engaged in philanthropic activity,” Hamilton said. “Everyone’s doing something.”

Pearson thinks that nonprofits like his will become more common.

A Missouri-based national restaurant chain, Panera Co., made headlines for having opened a nonprofit restaurant where customers can pay the suggested menu price but don’t have to, according to a June 25 article by The Associated Press. Paying more or less is allowed, and most people pay the suggested cost or more, according the article.

The nonprofit, run by the same company that has about 1,400 Panera Bread restaurants in 40 states, made $100,000 in revenues during its first month, the AP said.

“This is catching some real interesting steam in this new economy, where corporations are recognizing they have to do more than just make a profit,” Pearson said.

Common Table can only put suggested prices on its cafe menus because it’s a nonprofit, Pearson said, but it will model its menus to encourage people to pay at least those prices — likely ranging from $3 to $15.

Pearson said the group received a low-cost deal for the downtown space because it’s a nonprofit. It will use $280,000 in donated or pledged funding to renovate the building and to pay for other necessary costs during the next three years.

Most of the staff will be volunteers, but cooks and certain management positions, including Hancock, will be paid.

Common Table also plans to use Pacific Northwest products, most of which will be locally grown, said Hancock,. Common Table has its own community garden off Knott and Brosterhous roads in southeast Bend.

Both Hancock, who said he previously operated a nonprofit coffee shop in Colorado, and Pearson said the cafe is not meant to be a soup kitchen. They said it will serve high-quality breakfasts and lunches. At night, it will host events ranging from concerts to speakers to group discussions with meals themed around the event. It also will have a liquor license.

“It’s about giving dignity and respect to all,” Hancock said.

Common Table Story, pt. 1

Posted on June 14, 2010 by zhancock

The Common Table Cafe will open in August 2010 in Bend Oregon. This nonprofit cafe will locally source the majority of food and supplies, use volunteers to staff part of the cafe, train local students in the food service industry, train homeless and unemployed workers in the food service industry and be a place for gathering to discuss issues that may exist in the community the state the country and the world.

The food provided will be world class and most patrons will pay for the food just like any other restaurant. Some vouchers will be provided to people from other nonprofits where people in need can work on things like food banks, community gardens, community improvement projects, etc.

This operation is self sustaining. Our unique and world changing idea is as follows. We will be implementing a unique way to solve a major problem in our community. Many people sit on street corners, near supermarkets, in doorways downtown, and along highways asking for assistance, mostly for hunger needs of their families. Most people are conflicted about how to respond. Their hearts go out to these people who seem so desperate they must resort to begging. But most are also reluctant to just give cash, since there is no way to control how this money would be used. The Common Table will offer a better way to respond. By making a donation to Common Table a caring person will receive the equivalent value in tokens worth 10 dollars each that are good for a meal at the Common Table Cafe. People can have these tokens in their car, in their purse or in their pockets and can give them out to anyone asking for food money or other support. These tokens can be redeemed only at the Common Table Cafe for locally sourced, healthy, high-quality meals.

The Common Table is not a soup kitchen, but a quality restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. It will have large common tables so that economically challenged individuals and families will sit next to local politicians, local business people, local students and average local residents. This intermixing of economic classes will be a unique gift to the community.

The Common Table token program will benefit the planet by offering a new unique idea that will spread to other cities and other countries, and make a significant dent in hunger and reduce the incidence of begging on the corners, etc.

Why Common Table?

Posted on June 13, 2010 by zhancock

Common Table will work because people who pay for the excellent food we offer will also be feeding others the same excellent food. At least 20% of our gross revenues will be going to pay for others to eat meals in our café. This is nearly one free meal for each paid meal. This goes far beyond a business offering 10% of profits to a worthy cause. Giving meals to those in need is at the heart of our business plan not an add-on extra. People will be able to purchase valued tokens as a tax deductable donation in order to pass on to the working poor, or street people for redemption at Common Table to order off the food menu – eat in or take-away.

We like to say at Common Table that by Eating Good, you will be Doing Good, and helping to Make More Good Happen. Please consider a tax deductable gift to help get Common Table up and running and thereby Doing Good in Bend and beyond.