A Place at the Table

A Table for All

A Place at the Table is not just a “place” to grab a delicious breakfast or lunch. It’s “a place where everyone has dignity and choice”—where everyone and anyone can get a meal no matter how much money they have to their name. 

But feeding Raleigh comes at a price—and it’s thanks to APATT’s generous donors and paying customers that the nonprofit is able to continue nourishing the community. Lest you think you can’t make a difference, just $10 covers the cost of a meal at the cafe. 

Due to the impacts of inflation and the pandemic, more Raleighites are food insecure than ever before. Prior to the pandemic, APATT had 70% paying customers and 30% pay-what-you-can, the latter offset by either paying less, volunteering, using a PLACE Card or belonging to a family that eats for free. 

Now those numbers have seen devastating declines, with 40% paying customers and 60% pay-what-you-can meals—though all meals were 100% free during the pandemic. NTM the amount of money it takes to run the cafe: roughly $1.2 million a year (operations, paying staff, buying food and supplies, etc.). 

Founder and Executive Director Maggie Kane maintains each one of us can easily help make a significant impact, even if it doesn’t seem like you’re doing much. “With the increase of so many of our friends needing a good, dignified meal, we hope you will continue to dine with us, have your meetings at Table and bring new friends throughout the week,” she says of the notable nonprofit, whose revolutionary model has been recognized nationally by the likes of Good Morning America and the TODAY Show. 

Making it easier for every penny to count, part of that model includes monetary donations to help address hunger and food insecurity in Raleigh. Donors can sign up to be a Table Neighbor and set up recurring monthly gifts, whether that’s one meal per month ($10), 100 meals ($1,000) or any amount in between.

That said, just grabbing a coffee or a quick bite at the do-good diner helps further its mission—and rest assured it’ll be a good one. The menu—made fresh daily with locally sourced ingredients by Director of Operations Andrew Gravens—attracts diners throughout the city with such sweet and savory offerings as breakfast platters, pastries, sandwiches, soups and salads, plus coffee, espresso drinks and beyond.

Individuals can also pay it forward by purchasing a PLACE Card—available both at the cafe and online—to hand out to community members or leave at APATT. The cafe also provides them to nonprofit partners. Alternatively, you can opt to spend an hour or two of your day volunteering at the restaurant. 

Ultimately, APATT is reinventing how we feed our community as a whole. It invites people of all walks of life to gather over the one thing that continues to unite us all: food. “Table would not be here without all of you,” Kane emphasizes. “We could not do this without you, nor would we want to.” tableraleigh.org

How Your Support Helps:

• Provides meals to community members in need, addressing hunger and food insecurity in Raleigh

• Sustains the only pay-what-you-can cafe in Raleigh

• Helps cover rent, food costs and other operations of the cafe

TowneBank/Towne Insurance will match the first $10,000 donated—doubling the impact on our neighbors regardless of age or station. Whether you’re able to contribute $1, $5 or $25, your charitable dollars will help create a lasting impact on the lives of community members in need.