FoCo Cafe is the first nonprofit restaurant in Fort Collins. Cafe patrons set the price for cafe cuisine in this pay-what-you-can setting. Instead of a cash register, a donation box is on the counter. If people can give more, they should, but if they have a little less, they pay what they can. If their pockets are empty, the FoCo Cafe warmly recommends them to participate in the community with their time and talent in exchange for a mouth-watering meal.
FoCo Cafe’s mission is to build a stronger community by providing meals for people, regardless of their ability to pay. FoCo Cafe relies on volunteers, so Fossil Ridge High School’s Key Club decided to help with that.
Erin Karstein, a senior at Fossil and the Vice President of Key Club heard about the FoCo Cafe and thought it was a really cool way to serve the community. She thought it would be a great project for Key Club members to do, so she contacted them and Key Club started volunteering there in February.
Key Club is a group based around volunteering. The goal is to become involved in the community and serve others. Key Club has about three students who go for two hours every week to volunteer at the Cafe. They serve together about six hours a week.. “Even though we don’t get paid, it is a very rewarding experience through seeing the impact we can have on others. We serve others without expecting anything in return,” said Karstein.
Vanessa Elliott, junior, the future board secretary for Key Club, volunteered there for three hours.She added, “It is a really cool way to get involved in the community and help people from all walks of life. I saw hippies, a fair amount people with dreadlocks, college students, people who are backpacking, homeless people; just everybody was there”.
Elliott explained the FoCo Cafe as laid back. “They are not strict, they are casual and they welcome everybody.” She added, “It is really pinteresty, it is just cute.” The Cafe is somebody’s old house that was converted into a restaurant; it feels like walking into someone’s dining room instead of a restaurant. “When you are in the restaurant it doesn’t matter how high standard or low standard you are everybody is just at the same level,” explained Elliott.
Helping at the FoCo Cafe includes many different tasks such as preparing and serving food, bussing tables, cleaning, and welcoming customers. “Guest are walking through the line and the volunteer ask the guest what they want and at the end the guest can pick the price. The owner is incredible nice,” said Elliott. Karstein agreed and added that, “It is a good experience to volunteer there. The people that own the company are very nice and give us tasks to do while volunteering.”
The FoCo Cafe is not just welcoming to all kinds of people, they are also economically friendly. “They compost and recycle everything. They don’t throw anything out,” said Elliott.
Karstein is hoping that Key Club can continue with FoCo Cafe throughout next year. The board of Key club wants to continue afterward to keep it rolling. Hoping it will work that a project like that get continued!
Do you want to help volunteering?
Do you want to visit the FoCo Cafee?
Adress: 225 Maple Street, Fort Collins, CO 80521
A typical menu looks like that:
Salads
- White bean tuna salad (GF, DF)
- Quinoa pilaf with salmon, mushrooms and greens (GF, DF)
- Apple and red onion in a Dijon vinaigrette on greens (vegan, GF)
Soups
- Creamy seafood and bacon chowder (GF)
- Pumpkin apple curry soup (vegan, GF)
- Ham and bean soup (GF, DF)
Breads and desserts
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Corn muffins (GF, non GMO corn)
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Almond cake (GF and not)
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