A bridge to the world of business
NJBIZ Article – March 8, 2010 – BY BETH FITZGERALD
A bridge to the world of business
A Better World CAFÉ in Highland Park, is a social enterprise- a nonprofit bridge between business and philanthropy. Its mostly volunteer staff prepares and serves lunch weekdays at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, and customers are invited to pay the menu price, pay what they can afford, give something extra to support the café’s mission or eat lunch for free.
The café is a partnership between the nonprofit Who Is My Neighbor, which runs an after school drop-in center at the church, and Elijah’s Promise, and New Brunswick soup kitchen that runs two social enterprises-a culinary school and catering business
Executive chef Rachael Weston, a graduate of the culinary school, and her assistant chef are the café’s only paid employees. With a rotating pool of 10 daily volunteers, they serve lunch to as many as 125 in the church’s Quilt Room, which becomes a restaurant on weekdays from 11a.m. to 3:00p.m.
All diners are treated the same, whether they pay for their lunch or not, “and that’s the beauty of it” Weston said….