Potluck Catering and Cafe (Downtown East Side)

As I mentioned on my earlier posts, the theme for my Blogathon 2009 is “passion”. I am very passionate about helping the disenfranchised. Therefore, I always look for ways to highlight the worthy efforts of those who are at a disadvantage but want to move forward. I am always amazed at how many wonderful things take place in Vancouver, and how little I know sometimes about them. But fear not, because I have a number of amazing friends who highlight stuff for me and bring it to my attention. Via Monica Hamburg and Maura Rodgers, I found out about Potluck Catering and Potluck Cafe. More about Potluck from their website

Potluck operates a fully professional Café and Catering enterprise in the heart of the city serving hundreds of corporate and non profit clients. Potluck is a registered charity whose café and catering revenue is directly invested back into its 4 community social programs that are integrated into its daily operations. These include:

* An Integrated Food Services & Life Skills Training and Employment Program that has trained and employed dozens of DTES residents with barriers to employment
* A daily Meal Program that provides over 26,000 free meals annually to residents of the DTES suffering with severe physical and mental health and addictions challenges.
* A Community Kitchen Program that regularly welcomes a small group of DTES residents to learn basic cooking and nutrition skills and nurture relationships with other neighbourhood residents in the warm and familiar Potluck Café.
* A Recipes for Success Outreach Program that shares best practices for successful social and community employment with other employers interested in successfully maintaining employment for hard to employ inner city residents.

I was also impressed to read about their CSR and sustainability initiatives. I wish I had known about Potluck Catering when we were trying to find a caterer for Mental Health Camp, although I have to admit that we were very fortunate to have LunchBox cater for us. For my next event, I’ll definitely try Potluck Catering.

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Related posts:

1. Mink Chocolates Cafe (Downtown)
2. The anthropology of poverty in the Downtown East Side
3. Liveblogging FearlessCity talks at Northern Voice 2009
4. The realities of the Downtown East Side
5. Restaurant review – Cafe Crepe (UBC)