We know you know someone that we don’t know… but we’d like to!
It’s nearly August in New Orleans, and we’re talking degrees - but not in Fahrenheit. We’re talking six degrees of separation - or more likely two degrees of separation in our city.
If you’ve volunteered with the Crescent City Cafe, we’re asking for your help. For the month of August, we’re asking everyone who’s volunteered with the Crescent City to tell one other person about us and to invite them to volunteer. We’ve got two opportunities in August, and more in September!
Here’s the skinny: We need your - and their - help on Friday, August 6, with prep work from 6-8 p.m. We typically chop vegetables and put casseroles together, and it’s much more casual than a Saturday morning.
We could also use help with the Crescent City Cafe on Saturday, August 7, to cook food, wash dishes, serve tables and act as hosts from 7-10 a.m. To sign up to volunteer, contact Volunteer Coordinator Georgia McBride.
If you need more information, contact Kim Thompson.
A rough chorus of voices rang out at the Crescent City Cafe on Saturday, July 10, as servers and guests joined in to serenade a guest with our rendition of “Happy Birthday to You.” Later, the man told the church staff how happy he was to be honored on his birthday!
The Crescent City Cafe also served up meals to 91 guests who are homeless or low-income on this sweltering Southern summer morning. The specials were flapjacks and scrambled eggs or sausage breakfast tacos, served with grits, orange juice, coffee and fruit.
More than 20 volunteers, who are young adults living in New Orleans, cooked up eggs and sausage, plated food, scrubbed dishes, hosted and waited tables and more!
The next Crescent City Cafe will be held Saturday, August 7. Contact Volunteer Coordinator Georgia McBride if you’re a young adult in New Orleans who would like to help.
Dear Volunteers,
I have never been so proud to be a young adult in New Orleans as when I talk about the volunteers of the Crescent City Cafe. People say our generation is “me-centered,” but I can only point to the hundreds of you who have volunteered to serve meals with the Crescent City Cafe to say that’s simply not true.
Since starting the Crescent City Cafe in February 2009, we have been continuously humbled by your work ethic, your selflessness and your cheerfulness. For goodness sake, we ask you to come for 7 a.m. on a Saturday! But you show up on time, ready to work, with a smile on your face, and you get nothing in return.
We barely even have to ask before you’re ready to help… with anything. You ask us for jobs and jump at the chance to get your hands dirty. You never complain. You scrub dishes until your hands are wrinkly, and you stay until all the work is done.
You embrace the mission of the Crescent City Cafe to serve those who are homeless with dignity. You sit with our guests, and you give them something that’s even better than the delicious breakfast: your attention. You look them in the eyes, you listen and you care.
So, thank you. Thank you for being the face, hands, feet and ears of the Crescent City Cafe. Thank you for demonstrating to people who are homeless that they have value. Thank you for showing up when you don’t have to and caring when you get nothing in return. Thank you for proving that young adults are passionate, empathetic and selfless. And thank you for giving back to New Orleans.
We are so honored to work alongside you.
Much Love,
Kim, Georgia, Tori, Heather, Laura and Rebecca
The Crescent City Cafe Leadership Team
The Crescent City Cafe has a Facebook page, where you can see more photos from our events, connect with other volunteers, share your feedback and more! Come check us out:
Summer has descended. As our guests walked to the Crescent City Cafe on Saturday, June 5, 2010, and waited for the doors to open, they experienced a steamy, New Orleans-style summer morning - even at 7 a.m.
Volunteers brought cool water to guests waiting in line, while the kitchen cooked up the morning specials: authentic, New Orleans-style shrimp and grits or Southern-style biscuits and gravy with Cajun sausage and scrambled eggs. Brown’s Dairy provided chocolate and regular milk, cream and orange juice.
Despite the heat and humidity, 96 people came through the door and were served. As always, a huge thanks to our wonderful volunteers.
The Crescent City Cafe will be serving cold drinks and delicious meals this Saturday morning for people who are in need in our community. Many of the food items will be provided by Brown’s Dairy, thanks to their wonderful partnership. The doors will be open for 8:00-9:30 a.m. at 3900 St. Charles Avenue (Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church).
Help us spread the word! Download our flyer.
Brunch holds a special place in the hearts of New Orleanians, and the One+One Brunch made our local favorite just a little sweeter. In addition to getting a delicious plate of piping hot New Orleans’ favorites, each patron’s ticket provided one meal for someone who is homeless in New Orleans.
Shrimp and grits, Emeril’s breakfast casserole and breakfast tacos were the specials of the morning, all served with a side of petite breakfast potatoes and a great big helping of love.
The One+One Brunch fundraiser replicated exactly what the Crescent City Cafe normally does - except instead of providing breakfast, free-of-charge, to people who are homeless, it asked the community to support its mission. Patrons purchased $10 tickets that paid for their meal plus one future meal for someone who is homeless or low-income in New Orleans.
The fundraiser allowed the community to get involved with the Crescent City Cafe - outside of the young adults who volunteer on any given Saturday morning - and the community’s response was fantastic. Some offered to spread the word and sell tickets, others came to volunteer, still others made donations even if they couldn’t attend and some simply came to support the cafe and eat a great meal. We surely can’t blame them!
The money raised from the One+One Brunch will provide the funds for nearly three cafes in the future! The Crescent City Cafe gives a shout out and BIG thank you to all who helped and to all who came to eat.
It’s simple addition and the sum is delicious. Come to the One+One Brunch, the Crescent City Cafe’s first-ever fundraiser, on Saturday, May 15, from 9-11 a.m. at Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church. You get a delicious meal, and your ticket will provide a meal at a future cafe to someone who is homeless in New Orleans.
We’re running this like our regular cafe and showing off what we do best - treating our guests to great food, friendly smiles and a dose of dignity. We’ll greet you at the door, show you to your seat and let you choose from our three breakfast specials. Tickets are $10 and our tables seat eight - spread the word and show up with friends!
Tickets are $10 in advance and available online through PayPal by clicking the link below (tickets for children under age 10 are $5). Please print your receipt and bring it with you as your ticket.
The specials of the day will be:
1. Sizzlin’ Egg, Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Casserole with Rosemary - one of our most popular dishes!
2. Authentic New Orleans’ Shrimp and Grits
3. Tantalizing Breakfast Tacos - Sausage, Egg, Cheese with Pico de Gallo
All dishes come with a side of petite breakfast potatoes.
This event has passed and tickets are no longer available. Many thanks to all who came to support our first fundraiser!
To honor the upcoming Mother’s Day, May 9, Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church allowed members to give a meal to someone who is homeless through the Crescent City Cafe. The response was incredible and will provide nearly 130 meals!
Meals were given in honor or in memory of these mothers:
In Honor of
Lynn McAdams (5 meals)
Helen Pollard (5 meals)
Phyllis Flora
Lynette Meck
Rachel Meese
Carolina Weatherford
Cindy Johnson
Callie Winn Crawford
Kristie Crawford Buckner
Ashley Crawford Delapp
Maria Flurry
Jaji Flurry
Bee Norris (3 meals)
Natalie Nolan
Ginny Anderson
Sharon Pol
Sheila Gulasekharam
Janet Angelico
Nancy Agular
Connie Derham
Sandy Rinck
Edith Parr (3 meals)
Charmy Vanderkuy (2 meals)
Frances Settles
Jean Weber (5 meals)
Kathryn Dicken (2.5 meals)
Karen Ditsch
Carole Cotton Winn
Jean Darnall (3 meals)
In Memory of
Esther Myers Flora
Martha B. Marshall
Hazel Nuss Mackenroth (5 meals)
Dorothy Robisch
Willie Gilleland
Lizzie Beth Moffett (2.5 meals)
Sallie Kilgore (2.5 meals)
Mrs. John W. Woodward (10 meals)
Opal M. Creel (20 meals)
Katie S. Rowan
Wanda Maedgen Cook
Sybil Bone Rauls
Paula Haygood
Stella Panichas (5 meals)
Lynn Brill
Audrey Sutton Winn
Lil Winn
Puddin’ Cotton
Pauline Enloe (2 meals)
Marjorie McCants (3 meals)
Louise Young Walls (7 meals)
Racheal Thomason
Antonette Jeter
Mary DeFraites (2 meals)
Edith Sikes (2.5 meals)
Helen K. Cannon (5 meals)
