History of the Little Grill Collective

 

 

Since October of 1992, every Monday, The Little Grill restaurant has closed for regular business and become The Free Food For All Soup Kitchen, offering a free noon meal to Anyone in the World. The underlying idea is that of a cooperative meal rather than a charitable meal. The meal is served family style and is open to anyone regardless of anything, with no strings attached. Anyone is also welcome to help prepare the meal, serve or clean up. No one gets paid, and everyone who comes is encouraged to eat together.

 

As time went by, more and more people joined in. The Free Food For All Soup Kitchen grew and thrived. A jar was placed on the counter at the Little Grill during the week for anyone who wished to make a donation to the soup kitchen. The organization has not lacked for money since. Food and help and good times have come even more willingly.

 

Gradually, a vision of a future separate from The Grill emerged. The group began to eye a building near the restaurant, at the corner of Johnson and Main. First the focus was on a home for the soup kitchen. However, the idea grew that a place was needed to go beyond free food and explore aspects of community building, personal growth, and empowerment towards self-sufficiency. A new organization would be formed separate from the soup kitchen, legally and organizationally. This way the soup kitchen could remain Soup Kitchen and the new organization could expand and change as needed.

 

A well-attended public meeting was held in August of 1998 to decide on a name for the new organization. Consensus on a large scale led to the name "Our Community Place." This organization would maintain a separate bank account, incorporate with the state, create a board of directors, write organizational by-laws, apply for non-profit status with the federal government, and ultimately buy and renovate this property into a community center. Our Community Place would house and nurture, but not be limited to, The Free Food For All Soup Kitchen. Other things (some already in existence and some envisioned) that this building could house include: Yoga classes, a Pregnancy Sharing group, a recycling center, a whole foods buying group, Bible studies, rental and use of space by the Northeast Community Association, The Language Exchange, Soup Kitchen Theater, twelve-step meetings and a community garden, as well as helping people network to resources already available in our area.

 

These ideas have all been set in motion with our progress peaking on January 2, 2001 with the closing purchase of the desired building. We are extremely excited about owning this building. But the next step is renovating. The building has not been used for over ten years so there is a lot that needs to be done.

 

See the Comprehensive Plan for updates on renovations.

 

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