1. Sign up for our Newsletter
Click on the link on the right to sign-up.
2. Email Us Your Answers To These Two Questions
How might we build community around food and shared meals?
What are practical ways we can care for people in the massive restaurant and hospitality industry without strings attached… without being patronizing or manipulative?
3. Intentionally connect with staff at one or two of your favorite restaurants.
- Tip well.
- Pay attention to names. Thank people personally.
- Write letters of appreciation to the owner or chef mentioning people by name.
- Show up early or late when things are slow – staff will time to talk.
- Show real interest in the food, the people, and the restaurant.
- Don’t give advice, but listen for ways Big Table might help in some tangible way.
- As you get to know people, consider bringing in something food-related the staff might enjoy: some great dark chocolate, a plate of your grandma’s famous cookies, or a pizza ordered and delivered to the restaurant after finding out subtly what pizza people like and what pizza purveyor is their favorite.
- As you get to know people, invite them over for dinner in your home.
4. Serve At An Upcoming Dinner.
Email Kevin through our Contact Us link if you would be willing to serve or wash dishes at an upcoming dinner.
5. Volunteer To Help Us Respond To Care Requests.
Guests at each dinner suggest friends in the industry we might surprise with care in the weeks following the meal. Most of these requests requires some planning and follow-up. If you have some flexibility in your schedule and could help, let us know.
6. Give Unexpected 20 Envelopes.
Stuff them with 20 dollar bills, and have fun giving them to restaurant and hospitality people you think could use a boost. For more information, go to www.unexpected20.com.
7. Watch For Newsletters Requests.
You might be able to help us meet through your connections, training, or skills. You can also pass along newsletter copies to friends with a quick note about why you sent the email along.
8. Take part in the next Big Table Restaurant Blitz.
In a Blitz, everyone dines at the same restaurant in a given week and writes a letter of appreciation during the next week that specifically thanks a person or notes something done well.
9. Host a Big Table dinner in your home.
10. Provide An Introduction.
Make a connection for Big Table to people you already know in the restaurant and hospitality industry. We want to learn from people with industry experience at all levels.
11. Help financially.
If you are able to provide some financial support, consider giving monthly by direct debit. The DONATE NOW linch on the home page offers a link to our secure donation system. Gifts are tax deductible. Here are four possible ways you might help if you are able to contribute financially:
Give A Big Table “Tip”
As Big Table takes shape, even small gifts add up quickly. We can process regular gifts as small as $5, and it only takes five minutes to set up a monthly, yearly, or one-time gift. Rather than spend large amounts of time on fund raising events, we are working to connect with people willing to provide a monthly ‘tip' or larger donations to support Big Table. All gifts are tax-deductible. If you’d rather not give directly online, checks can be sent to: Big Table, 1606 East 60th Avenue, Spokane, WA 99223. Any amount is deeply appreciated.
Set A Table
We settled on the name Big Table over sushi. The friend who became the first supporter asked how much we thought it would cost. We told him $100,000 to 120,000 a year. He didn’t even blink. Instead, he finished that bite of fish and grinned.
“Then what we need is ten or twelve people willing give $10,000. We should call them “table setters.” And I’m willing to be the first.”
That grin and commitment was the first huge step in turning Big Table from a dream and call into a reality, and we need five core donors willing and able to join Mr. Sushi and set a table for these initial three years.
Now is not the logical time to ask for big gifts, but the need is huge as the people in the restaurant and hospitality industry are hit harder than just about anyone else as people cut back first on the largely optional spending that supports the entire industry. If you are in a place to set a table, it will be put to great use.
$10,000 – 12,000 a year / $825 – 1000 a month
Set A Place
While a few people are in a place to set a whole table, more are able to set one place at the Table. Would you consider whether or not you could set a place? At the end of the year, we send each "place setter" a report: "Who Sat In Your Seat."
$1200 a year / $100 a month
Share A Table Or Place Setting
A fourth option is equally brilliant. Find several friends to set a table or place with you. Some of the very best meals we’ve ever eaten were served family style, and idea of sharing a table or place setting fits perfectly with our vision. Do you have some foodie friends who might join you
in setting a table or a place?