Acorn Community Cafe was created to fill a hunger gap during the pandemic.
Starting a new restaurant can be a daunting task. Starting a new restaurant during a pandemic can be almost impossible. But as Miranda McKeever and Corey Prunier have learned, starting a restaurant with purpose-driven community aid during a pandemic can be a very rewarding experience.
The Acorn Community Cafe is the brick-and-mortar manifestation of a year long effort to provide nutritious meals to folks who were desperate for help during an unprecedented year of tragedy. McKeever and Prunier, two furloughed restaurant workers, started Free Lunch People Eugene during the height of the pandemic last April, and the Cafe opened its doors on April 1st.
They began by setting up a table at Acorn Park and worked tirelessly to meet the needs of a growing community of food-insecure folks. Thanks to the energy and work of volunteers they were able to feed people throughout the entire pandemic.
McKeever, Cafe Front of House Manager and Free Lunch People Outreach Coordinator, stated that there was a very real need in the community that had to be met. The transition to the Cafe is a huge step forward in addressing those needs in a healthy and sustainable way.
Acorn Cafe is located on the corner of Monroe and Blair. Ericka Thessen, former volunteer turned board member, described it as a place where she feels an odd sense of calm through all the chaos in her life. There are two or three small, cozy tables where folks can sit and enjoy their lunch, but most people tend to take their food to go.
On the inside is a food pantry where anyone can come in and choose the items they need. They have non perishable canned goods, perishable goods, period supplies, diapers and donated masks. They want the food pantry to feel like a shopping experience so folks can receive aid with dignity.
They also have a resources table where people can find information for aid that the cafe may not provide. McKeever hopes that in the near future the counter service will be moved inside and the patio can be opened up to more seating.
The food is outstanding. The menu item that Pruiner, Cafe Kitchen Chef and Free Lunch People Food Resources Coordinator, is most excited about is his Biscuits and Gravy, only $7 on the menu. He makes the biscuits fresh every morning and whatever is leftover gets put in the food pantry and then volunteers will distribute anything that is left the next day.
Pruiner is a chef at Marche and as much as he enjoys that job, French food is not very accommodating of a vegan diet. At Acorn Community Cafe Corey is able to flex his creative kitchen muscles and give the community a beautiful spread of delicious vegan food that he serves with pride. He is excited at how readily the community has accepted his style of cooking.
The cafe relies on donations from the community, and they are able to provide free meals to folks in need through menu price markups and a “Pay it Forward” program. Any customer can come by and pay for a meal for someone else. They have a board with several receipts hanging on them so folks have a variety of free options to choose from. Everything in the kitchen is made from scratch and the desserts are made with love from a group of volunteer grandmothers.
They make everything from banana bread to chocolate chip cookies to cinnamon-raisin swirl toast. During the summer Free Lunch People were able to get their food from local farm donations including Organic Redneck and Hummingbird Wholesale. The cafe is looking forward to farmers market season so they can receive donations again. They are also starting a wholesale account with Little Wing Farm.
Acorn Community Cafe has an admirable goal of feeding their neighbors in need but to reach that goal they need support from others. They are still looking for volunteers with a wide range of skills including restaurant workers, painters, gardeners and folks to run mobile outreach and watch the food pantry.
They are also relying on financial support and donations for the food pantry. Their goal is to be able to pay their employees a living wage and provide a job training program through C.O.R.E (Community Outreach Through Radical Empowerment) a local organization that started in 2017 and is dedicated to providing services to unhoused youth. They spoke about a fundraiser that Party Downtown did for them in which 5% of sales went to the cafe. Acorn was able to raise $1000 through that generous event.
Acorn Community Cafe is located at 769 Monroe Street in Eugene, Oregon. The current hours for the food pantry are 9-10 AM and 4-5 PM Wednesday through Sunday and the test kitchen is open from 10 AM-4PM Wednesday through Sunday.
