** Announcement: Like bowling, It takes focus, coordination, swing and a bit of luck. When they all come together... Striiiike! 🎳
What it feels like, when my skills in food production, packaging, brand marketing, event planning, teaching and working with newcomers come together in tandem 💥!
You may know the backstory that garnered International media attention... In 2016, thousands of Syrian refugees arrived in Canada and the gov't scrambled to properly settle them. Living in hotels, with no access to kitchens, The Depanneur, a popular culinary event venue in downtown Toronto invited a few women to come cook and share meals. This small act, initiated by a few volunteers using donated ingredients, quickly blossomed into a weekly gathering. To sustain the initiative, the group began to prepare extra meals to sell to offset costs.
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| Photo Credit: Newcomerkitchen.ca |
Within a matter of months, the Newcomer Kitchen project had grown to include 50+ Syrian families and many volunteers. Each week a group would prepare 50 meals to be sold online for pickup & delivery. In less than a year, Newcomer Kitchen has put $30,000+ directly to 50+ refugee families while providing meaningful work, engagement and integration.
What became clear was that the potential of this model could work with any newcomer population, in any kitchen willing to open its doors, in any city in the world. And it has, to present day, much has been accomplished and has expanded way beyond that little store front. Sadly, The Depanneur is closing its doors with owner Len Senator taking a break to refresh and renew.
#newcomerkitchen #ircc #womeninbusiness #foodbusiness #entrepreneurship #empowerment
