The pay-what-you-can concept that’s been spearheaded by the local nonprofit group Harmony Café is coming to Toast Coffeehouse for a special night on Main Street next week.
On Tuesday, Nov. 20, two days before Thanksgiving, Toast will be opening its doors for a Thanksgiving meal that’s open to all — whether they have money or not.
Like at any Harmony Café event, there’s a suggested donation. Some people will pay less, some people will pay the suggested price, in this case $15, some will pay more.
The dinner will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m, with live music by Patrick McHale.
“The goal is the raise some money for Harmony Cafe, so they can get their own brick and mortar store and do their own thing,” said James Skidmore, Toast’s GM. “Why would a coffeehouse want to get involved in that? Well there’s a lot of people in our community and some can’t afford to eat.
“We want to help make good, healthy food affordable to all people.”
Local restaurants such as Village Idiot Pub, Rudi’s and Public House 49 will also be donating trays of food for the dinner, which will feature typical Thanksgiving staples.
“It feels good to connect with other people in the Patchogue area on Main Street, and come together and create this event,” said Harmony Café founder Rosemarie McCarthy.
A similar pop-up event attracted 60 people to the new Rooster’s Cafe in Bellport last month.
“We look forward to doing more events like this with the restaurants and incorporate other businesses to make it more about community, and do even more pop-ups,” she said.
Playing a big role in the special event is Hardy Patel, a co-owner of The Float Place on North Ocean Avenue, who connected McCarthy with Skidmore.
“I met Rosemarie last year and really liked what her nonprofit was about and what she was trying to build,” said Patel, “but she’s been struggling to find a venue and I had become good friends with James from Toast and we talked about doing something to help her.
“It’s such a great thing and we wanted to help her out anyway we could. These aren’t just people who are homeless. Maybe they’re having trouble making ends meet, and maybe they just need to break some bread and feel that everything’s fine and get a boost.
“Hopefully this leads to other restaurants helping on a monthly basis.”
Click here to RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-place-at-the-table-an-evening-of-gratitude-connection-tickets-52140774460
