Why This Matters

Money isn’t everything. And Feast’s programs are definitely about more than money! But as we cross over the $1 million mark in profits our chef partners have earned, we want to highlight how this income has helped Immigrant and Former Refugee community members. Check out some Chef Partner stories below! To help make more stories of flourishing happen, consider supporting our programs with a fully matched gift this fall to our Million Dollar Milestone Campaign. The first $20,000 in donations will be doubled by our generous match partners!

visiting loved ones

This summer, several of our Chef Partners used proceeds from their restaurant and catering work to travel long distances. In several cases, the purpose was to visit family members they hadn’t seen in years. For Chef Samah, she used her “side hustle” earnings from a whole year of cooking at Feast to take all six of her children to meet her mother, who is aging and has health challenges. Her hard work with Feast made this possible.

Chef Hibra from Ethiopia (seen here with her son) has taken big strides with her new company Amen Ethiopian Cuisine! Obtaining her own licensing and permits, she served her delicious food at the Perry St Farmers Market every Thursday, and recently catered a wedding too! She uses her earnings (and learnings) at Feast to grow as an entrepreneur.

Going places

With the extra income she earned cooking traditional Afghan food, one Chef Partner purchased a reliable car, making life much easier. With many daily responsibilities such as holding down a regular day job, attending college classes, and taking her parents to medical appointments, the bus schedule wasn’t working. Having a source of extra income has led to a vehicle that has simplified her family’s lives!

Chef Biety from Ethiopia uses extra income from Feast to help raise her two elementary-age girls. As a single mom, Biety has shared with us how meaningful the extra income has been. Once, she used her earnings to fly to Colorado for a dear friend’s baby’s baptism, and she has also used her earnings to help raise funds for her local church to rent or buy their own worship facility.

Making it happen

“Every penny I make at Feast World Kitchen goes directly to building my own catering & events business Que Sabroso,” says Chef Monica, originally from Colombia. She is renovating a food truck, popping up at farmers markets around town, taking on larger catering jobs, and now has her own commercial kitchen space to prep for multiple events per week, in part from her hard work at Feast.

Maryam, originally from Iran, is a single mom who supplements her job at Whitworth University’s dining hall with significant income from Feast each month. She’s becoming famous around town for the baklava she makes, which we wholesale to Huckleberry’s and Indaba Coffee Chop. Plus she’ll make you a high-octane cup of Turkish coffee on Fridays 8-11am at Feast!