The Kids Table

January 11, 2018

I am excited to share a new project that the Patachou Foundation fundraising committee has been working on the past few months: a dinner series called The Kids Table.

The Foundation’s goal for 2018 is to serve 30,000 nutritious after-school meals to kids in Indianapolis. Through donations and the dinner series, we hope to raise enough money to provide 1,000 of those meals before March.

Last night was the official launch for The Kids Table and we already have a few awesome party people interested in participating. The concept is simple: host a dinner party and use the event to share the mission of the Foundation with family and friends. There are no rules – you can host a potluck, you can make the entire meal, or you could have the meal catered.

We all have fond memories of a favorite childhood meal that takes us right back to sitting at the family dinner table. Unfortunately, not every child has the same experience. We often take a home cooked meal for granted, which is why a dinner party is the perfect way to educate friends about the food insecurity that exists in our community.

Any amount of monetary support helps and the Foundation is always looking for volunteers to help feed kids at the partner schools. There’s no required fundraising amount for the dinners, but it does help to set a fundraising goal.

Here are a few stats for perspective:

$10 a month covers the cost of a school weeks’ worth of meals for one student.
$50 covers the cost of meals for an entire club for one month.
$100 a month pays for the cost of meals for a school once a month.

If you’re interested in hosting a dinner, visit the Foundation’s website.

I have included a few photos below from the first Kids Table dinner party that I hosted. My friend Ryu was kind enough to share his shabu-shabu skills. I’ll save you a Google and explain shabu-shabu: “a Japanese nabemono hotpot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water. The term is onomatopoeic, derived from the sound emitted when the ingredients are stirred in the pot and served with dipping sauces. The food is cooked piece by piece at the dinner table.” The meal was very communal, which worked well for our foodie group of friends.

I made Ina Garten’s jam thumbprint cookies for dessert and it was the best night with friends for a good cause. My friend Kim of Hoopla Letters! did all of the scripting on the place mats and other materials.