A Place at the Table

The mission at A Place At The Table Café is to provide a sense of community and healthy food for ALL regardless of means. In order to build this sense of community, the café offers two Community Tables where guests can share a meal and have a conversation with others. For those guests who may be facing food insecurity, the cafe provides meal tokens in exchange for one hour of volunteering at the cafe. The Hayes Barton UMC Outreach Pathway has given the organization a Community Grant that will fund 250 meal tokens!

APATT only opened last December and already has many success stories. James came to the café earlier this year and, while he didn’t really understand the organization’s concept, had heard he could get a good meal at the café. He ate at the Community Table with Zinnith, a member of the café’s Community Advisory Board. They chatted for about 15-20 minutes. Then James popped up and asked, “How can I help?” He helped wash dishes, bus tables, take the trash out, and did anything else that was needed. At the end of the day, he said, with such pride in his voice, “I loved this. I’ll be back tomorrow morning at 7:00am to help and will stay till closing. Don't forget to find my name tag.” James now comes to the café almost every day to volunteer. Recently his picture was added to the wall and now he brags (in a good way) to everyone about how he is famous on the wall!

Hayes Barton partnered with APATT for Scattered to Serve this spring. The Professional Men’s Prayer Breakfast met at A Place at the Table recently and enjoyed it so much they’ve decided to make the café their permanent meeting space. Several members of our church community volunteer with APATT including Beth Swartz, who also serves on their Board of Directors. She says,"A Place At The Table is my Home away from Home! I love building relationships with people from all walks of life. There is truly a place at our table for everyone!"