Help HWC Keep the Momentum Going!

As you know, HWC is the recipient of the YorIT Social Venture funding.  Help us keep the momentum building toward our opening.  Here's how you can help:

Have a green thumb?  Like digging in the dirt?  Help create our Community Garden Plot, HWC will participate in the York City community garden at 234 S Pershing Street. LOTS of work ahead preparing, planting, tending garden. If interested, please e-mail us at healthyworldcafe@gmail.com.

Help us spread the word about HWC at these upcoming events:

Olde York Street Fair, May 8th, 12:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. to staff a table with seed packets and brochures / share info about HWC.  Again, if you can help us, send an e-mail with your availability.

Advisory Group Meeting, Monday, June 6, 6:30 p.m., Friends Meeting House.  Advisory Group meetings are open to all, and we always welcome new advisory group members.  Bring a friend!

There are plenty of ways to help HWC in the coming weeks!  Get involved, volunteer, contribute.  Help us make HWC a reality!

HWC Wins YorIT Social Venture Challenge and $20K in funding!

Reprinted from www.yorit.org:

YorIT Social Venture Challenge  

Healthy World Cafe Receives $20,000 as Winner of 2011 YorIT Social Venture Challenge

April 8th, 2011 – Tonight the YorIT membership selected Healthy World Café as the winner of this year’s Social Venture Challenge and the recipient of $20,000 in start-up funds. Healthy World Café is a 21st-Century, nonprofit restaurant concept in downtown York that will provide healthy meals made from local ingredients at a price each customer decides he/she can afford. The Café will offer an accessible community gathering place where all are welcome and local food, art and music are promoted. Healthy World Café seeks to offer a new dining experience that brings people to downtown York and supports the local economy. Funding from YorIT will support the start-up costs for the Healthy World Café, which plans to be self-sustaining within a year of opening. Philanthropic Endeavors is the fiscal agent for this initiative.

YorIT members made their decision following live pitches from all three Social Venture Challenge finalists: Downtown Delivered, Healthy World Café and Y-FI. The event took place at the Capitol Theatre in Downtown York before a live audience made up of YorIT members, mentors and supporters, as well as interested community stakeholders, potential investors and members of the public. Members who were unable to attend the Finalist Event in person were encouraged to submit their vote by proxy.

The YorIT Social Venture Fund was created through the annual contributions of YorIT members to effect change in our community in a way that is meaningful to our generation. Our membership seeks to fund passionate and creative individuals with ideas that are innovative, feasible and sustainable, and which may not have attracted support from traditional funding sources.

The goal of this year’s YorIT Social Venture Challenge was to fund initiatives with the potential to help attract and retain restaurants and retailers in Downtown York. YorIT used social media, public relations and a guerilla marketing effort to generate interest in this year’s Challenge, which yielded seven exciting video proposals from non-traditional applicants. The videos, uploaded to YouTube, have attracted hundreds of viewers and demonstrate the creative energy Yorkers offer to our community.

The YorIT Challenge Committee, after declaring any potential conflicts of interest, screened those proposals for initial feasibility and potential impact and invited four groups in for second round interviews. Again, potential conflicts were declared and committee members abstained from interviews and deliberations as appropriate. The Selection Committee ultimately narrowed the field down to two finalists, who were soon joined by a third who was able to take the steps recommended by the Committee in order to move them forward as finalists.

We were very proud to put forward three compelling and uniquely different ideas to benefit our downtown. Each was vetted for feasibility, sustainability and potential impact. It is our hope that while Healthy World Café is the recipient of this year’s Challenge Funds, all three finalists will have found the evening to be a platform from which their initiatives were able to generate interest and support from the greater community.

You can learn more about the Healthy World Café at their website: www.healthyworldcafe.org

Also please view their video proposal here:

Healthy World Café: View Video Below you will find some brief information about the other two finalists, including a link to the video proposal that they submitted to be considered for this year’s challenge. We encourage you to contact each group directly for more information about their initiatives and how you might support their efforts. 2011 YorIT Social Venture Challenge Finalists: Downtown Delivered is bicycle delivery service for downtown restaurants and food vendors. Beginning two days a week with Central Market vendors, the company seeks to bring market-fresh meals to time-strapped downtown businesses and families, while offering downtown restaurants and retailers an opportunity to increase sales. The company has a commitment to providing quality, fresh foods, delivered on bicycles to reduce carbon emissions and traffic congestion. The critical feature of this service is the development of an online ordering system that keeps track of available products in real-time. Funding from YorIT would have supported the development of the software and initial start-up costs for Downtown Delivered. Philanthropic Endeavors is the fiscal agent for this initiative. Downtown Delivered: View Video Y-FI is an existing community wireless internet project, sharing local resources to benefit the community at large and support economic growth in Downtown York City. The proposal seeks to significantly expand the Y-FI wireless network in York’s Central Business District. Y-FI, under the exclusive direction of Bob Mock, has already established wireless systems in Central Market and several other downtown businesses, making them “third places” where individuals can hang out and stay in touch. Funding from YorIT would have allowed the network to expand its reach by adding approximately 30 additional wireless points and providing back-up technical support. The more connections that are established, the greater the strength of the network. Y-FI recently partnered with the York County Economic Development Corporation (YCEDC) and its nonprofit subsidiary PEDYC, strengthening the initiative’s sustainability and scalability. Y-fi: View Video http://www.myyfi.com/. Thank you for your support as we continue to seek creative and compelling ideas to improve the quality of life in our community. We look forward to sharing information about next year’s Challenge in the months to come.

Drum Roll, Please...

The Healthy World Café is pleased to announce that we have been selected as finalists for the YorIt Social Venture Challenge! We have been invited to pitch our idea to the full YorIt members at their meeting on Friday, April 8, 2011. Again, many thanks to all of the people who contributed to the video ideas and production-- we couldn't have done it without so many people contributing their ideas, skills and talents.

Please join us at our next Advisory Group Meeting on April 4, 6:30 pm, Friends Meeting House, 135 W. Philadelphia St. to help us achieve this next milestone-- receiving our first funding! We need you to help brainstorm and plan for our pitch and share your creative ideas. We’ll also be discussing our recently-finalized business plan and our upcoming fundraising and volunteer opportunities.

News, Events, and How You Can Help HWC

What We’re Up To and What’s Next

It’s been a busy few months for the Healthy World Café! First, we’d like to take a minute to thank the many people who helped us develop and submit our video to the YorIt Social Venture Challenge Grant competition. From the songwriters, the musicians, to the actors, to the professional and amateur chefs that prepared the food for the filming, to the volunteers who sampled and tasted as well as acted, to the vendors and businesses who opened their doors to us, and all the volunteers who did voiceover, edited footage, took photos, and generally gave of their time and talent…. words can’t express our thanks.

We are very proud of everyone’s work on this, we’ve learned a lot, and have been inspired by how many others share the vision for opening this cafe. And now we’ve got this amazing video that helps to communicate who we are and what we are about to be. Please share it widely to help tell our story and keep up all of the momentum we’ve built. And keep your fingers crossed – as we’ve been invited to the next stage in the YorIT competition!

From the business end of things, we’ve begun developing our marketing materials, including a brochure, logo and letterhead. Our Facebook, blog, and Twitter pages are being updated regularly to keep people informed about HWC and all of our partners and supporters. We braved the weather to staff a display at the York County Agri Business Council Recognition Banquet on January 26. We’ve joined Downtown, Inc. and the York County chapter of Buy Fresh, Buy Local. HWC was featured in the YorkCounts Blog, “Count Me In.” Two guiding committee members attended a summit in Santa Fe hosted by other cafes with similar business models to help groups just like us who are getting one started. We’re finalizing a business plan, a marketing plan and a fundraising plan, and we will be posting these documents soon to seek feedback from all of you. And guess what? Our fundraising efforts are already starting to pay off!

What’s Next?

There are many opportunities in the coming weeks to get more involved with and learn more about the Healthy World Café.

• February 28, "Open Mind Mic," 7 p.m. - 9 p.m., Bistro 19, 19 N. George St.,  sponsored by Think Drink.  Healthy World Cafe will be one of the topics discussed at this new, open, community dialogue.

• March 4, “RAW: Realizing Artistic Worth,” 6 p.m. – 10 p.m., 116 E. King St., hosted by local artist Shannon Sylte.  This event is being presented in conjunction with First Friday and will feature Healthy World Café to raise awareness, (and hopefully some funds!)

• March 7, HWC Advisory Group Meeting, 6:30 pm, Friends Meeting House, 135 W. Philadelphia St.,  Jump right in with your ideas and feedback. Or just come to learn a little more about HWC. We’ll be discussing our business plan, our fundraising plan and our next steps.

• March 12, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m., we plan to have a team on the streets spreading the word about HWC.

• April 4, HWC Advisory Group Meeting, 6:30 pm, Friends Meeting House, 135 W. Philadelphia St.

• April 23, “Going Green in the City,” 10:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m., along N. Beaver St.  Come visit us and view our display to spread the awareness of HWC.

How You Can Get Involved and Help

We’re recruiting volunteers to help with all of these events, both by attending, distributing information about HWC and staffing our information tables. Send us an e-mail or post to our Facebook page if you’d be interested in helping out for an event.

Follow-us on Twitter and Facebook.

Set some time aside and review and give us feedback on our business, marketing and fundraising plans (these will be posted to our Google Groups page in the very near future).

Donate funds. And ask others to match your donation. You can donate funds online (follow the Paypal button).

Attend an advisory group meeting to learn more and share your thoughts with us. These are held the first Monday of every month at the Friends Meeting House, 135 W. Philadelphia St. The food is always great and the company is even better.

Keep checking in with us for updates and other volunteer opportunities. Let’s all work together to make the Healthy World Café a reality.

What is the Healthy World Cafe?

Take a look at our introductory video, produced for the YorIT Social Venture Challenge.  This describes our effort to bring Healthy World Cafe to downtown York.

Our 12/28/10 Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

December 28, 2010

Contact:

Patricia Fonzi, Spokesperson

(717) 586-9232

York, PA

taf24@yahoo.com

www.healthyworldcafe.org

Innovative restaurant with a heart coming soon to York.

Often a great idea starts when a small group of people coming together with a purpose and that’s exactly what has happened with the Healthy World Café. The mission of York’s Healthy World Café is to provide a place for all members of the York community to eat -- where people eating a good meal in a welcoming place is given priority over the ability to pay.

What is unique about this approach is that there is no regular menu. With a focus on local and whole foods, meals are prepared in small batches and served to patrons who choose their own portions of soups, salads, entrees and desserts. To help with portion control, the restaurant will offer small, medium and large plates. Patrons will be expected to pay a fair and respectable price for the food that they have eaten, and pricing suggestions will be available.

No one, however, is turned away. If a diner does not have the ability to pay, they will encouraged to exchange an hour of volunteer service at the restaurant—serving meals, preparing food and even doing dishes if needed.

Recently incorporated as a not for profit, the Healthy World Café is currently exploring site options in downtown York and actively recruiting people who are interested in learning more about the café, volunteering, and of course—making donations. We invite all of our York area neighbors to learn about and become a part of this life sustaining and environmentally sustainable community kitchen.

Interested people are welcome to join us on Monday January 3, 2011, 6:30pm – 8:30pm at the Friends Meeting House, 135 West Philadelphia Street, York, PA for the next public advisory group meeting.

The Café is actively seeking donations especially as the year comes to a close. Donations are tax deductible, and will help the Café to secure a site and recruit volunteers. Donors can contribute via PayPal by visiting www.philanthropicendeavors.org and clicking the Donate button or by sending a check made out to: Philanthropic Endeavors Foundation/Healthy World Cafe Fund and sent to 342 Bruaw Drive, York, PA 17406.

For questions or further information, please contact Patricia Fonzi at 717-586-9232.

Our Website is Under Construction

You may have been redirected to our Blog Page while our healthyworldcafe.org website is under construction!  Thanks for your interest in the Healthy World Cafe.  Please feel free to contact us for more information.