By Kaitlan Morehouse and Jessica Isaacs
Are you hungry for good food, drinks and entertainment? Do you like to support your local nonprofits? Look no further. You can actually have it all! This month’s P.A.S.S. charity event at The Local restaurant in Boone will feature the F.A.R.M. Café at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 26.
Each month, The Local teams up with a nonprofit in the area to shed light on that group’s mission and ongoing projects.
At every event, there’s someone on hand from the featured charity to tell you more about what they’re up to in the community.
The restaurant donates 10 percent of its food sales during each event to featured charity, as well as 100 percent of raffle ticket sales (after initial ticket purchase) that give patrons a chance to win featured items donated by local businesses.
If you’re planning to go, expect to enjoy free appetizers, one free raffle ticket and one free pint of beer, glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage.
Get tickets at the door or buy a P.A.S.S. of your choice to get into each monthly event this year. Read under “How It Works” to learn more about the various passes that are available.
This January, The Local puts its neighbor, The F.A.R.M. Café, in the spotlight.
About the F.A.R.M. Cafe
F.A.R.M. Café stands for “feeding all regardless of means.” It is a community café located at 617 King St. that offers great food for everyone and is working to combat food insecurity in the area.
“When someone comes in and they are unable to pay for a meal, they are able to volunteer [in order to] pay for a meal and eat with the rest of the community,” Executive Chef Renee Boughman said.
A small percentage of customers who can’t afford to dine out have the option to volunteer an hour of their time in exchange for a meal.
According to its website, the F.A.R.M. Café’s aims “to eliminate hunger in the High Country and to build a healthy and inclusive community by providing high quality and delicious meals produced from local sources, served in a restaurant where everybody eats, regardless of means.”
Enjoy the buffet and take your choice of two plate sizes: a small plate for $5-7 or a large plate for $8-10.
“Our role is to help fight hunger so people can share in community and eat together, and there is no stigma about your economic condition,” Boughman said.
Boughman said exposure to the community is an important part of the café’s success.
“It helps to expand our outreach and let people know that we’re here and available for everyone to eat,” she said. “Sometimes, people think that the only people who can eat here are those who are in poverty.”
The café is open to everyone, and it’s a judgement free zone.
Boughman said the important thing to remember is that we’re all in the same boat, and we can all share a meal together at the café.
“The community support is absolutely the backbone of the café,” Boughman said. “That’s why, when a restaurant like The Local helps, it’s a huge compassion.”
Check out The Local at 179 Howard St. in downtown Boone. For more information, visit thelocalboone.com or call 828-266-2179.
How it Works
Purchasing a ticket, or a P.A.S.S., to the program earns event-goers prizes and benefits at different levels.
- Each $10 Silver Pass includes entry to one event.
- Each $50 Gold Pass includes entry to six events and a 5 percent discount on all food items for cardholders. The Gold Pass expires after one year.
- Each $100 Platinum Pass includes entry to one year’s worth of monthly events and a 10 percent discount on all food items for cardholders. The Platinum Pass expires after 18 months.
The event will take place in the side room at the restaurant. Dinner guests won’t be required to purchase a ticket in order to enjoy dinner, but they’re welcomed to get in on the fun if they choose to do so.
The P.A.S.S. series represents the restaurant’s and the program’s core values:
- PROVIDE: Provide fundraising opportunities through partnering with local philanthropic organizations, nonprofits, educators, social services and others that foster the well-being of the community.
- ADVOCATE: Advocating for those in need by improving local social justice issues, education and supporting local organizations that need funding. Through this process, these organizations will be able to better serve their clients and ultimately impact the community overall.
- SUSTAIN: Working towards a more self-sufficient community cycle. Utilizing local goods and services not only has a positive impact on the environment but also the local economy. Through supporting local economy, we can become more sustainable as individual businesses. In addition, we are creating a small sustainable culture through increasing the overall health of the community, through partnering with organizations driven toward the service and growth of the community’s needs.
- SYNERGY: Combining different services to reach higher potential than the individual services alone. We are more than just the sum of our businesses added together — we are synergistic. By partnering with services that individually may have need, we can build more robust identities through working together.
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