Written By Malachi Mena
12 Baskets Café is excited to share new opportunities and an expansion of community services. They have been working even harder than usual to provide Asheville citizens with more access to food!
On AFM News Hour, Patrick Battle spoke with Ben Williamson of the Asheville Poverty Initiative about major service expansions at 12 Baskets. Williamson began by sharing some background on 12 Baskets Café. They opened in 2016 and served lunch every weekday. Now they are excited to sell groceries along with meals, four days a week. (they’re closed on Wednesdays). This is a major shift for the café, as they were previously only able to serve strictly meals or strictly groceries each day. Williamson said that the café staff and volunteers have worked diligently at doubling access to food for the community. Through a process of trial and error, they are now serving record numbers!
Throughout all of this, 12 Baskets has strived to maintain its community building, fulfilling the primary part of their mission. Williamson said, “We just want people to come in and have a seat, and be waited on, and be welcomed, and be included . . .” 12 Baskets wants to invite the community to stop by and enjoy a hot meal, grab some food to go, and sign up for groceries. You can stop and chat with new faces and enjoy the café’s garden. There’s a lot going on at 12 Baskets and they would love for people to be a part of it! They welcome all!
All these exciting changes come with expenses. In order to raise money, the Asheville Poverty Initiative will be hosting Westival: A Food Experience for the West of Us on September 28 from 4PM to 8PM. The fundraiser will be held at Archetype Brewing and will feature twelve West Asheville-based food providers. Restaurants such as Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack and West Village Market will take part! The Asheville Poverty Initiative really wanted to be community inclusive and child friendly to celebrate West Asheville.
For more information on 12 Baskets Café and the Asheville Poverty Initiative, check out https://www.ashevillepovertyinitiative.org/ and listen to the latest episode of AFM News Hour.