Some Vancouver restaurants are taking part in a new non-profit program called Mealshare. The program was launched on August 29th in an effort to help feed the hungry in the Downtown Eastside.
Aphrodite’s Organic Cafe and Pie Shop in Kitsilano was one of the first restaurants to join the Mealshare program in Vancouver.
“If a customer comes in and buys one of these Mealshare items, they get their meal obviously, but someone in need also gets a meal as well. So it's a buy one give one model," said Derek Juno, Creative Director of Mealshare.
The customer pays nothing extra. The restaurant donates money to the non-profit Mealshare organization, which then gives part of the proceeds to an international charity called The Children's Hunger Fund and part of the money to a local charity.
In Vancouver’s case, the money collected from Aphroditie’s Organic Cafe goes to a group called Mission Possible, which supports residents in the Downtown Eastside.
Cafe owner Peggy Vogler jumped at the chance to get involved.
"We have our local homeless population and I try to take care of them, but I thought I wanted to be a little more bigger scale and try to make a difference. Especially in the downtown east side," she said.
Mealshare started in Edmonton and Calgary in July and in the past month alone it has donated over 1,500 meals to low income Albertans.
In Vancouver, Aphrodite’s, Darby's Pub in Kitsilano and the Gurka Himalyan Kitchen on Davie Street are part of the program. Four other Vancouver restaurants are expected to join the program in the next week or so.
For more information visit the mealshare.ca website.
