Creative Dining Services will operate their first public-facing restaurant with proceeds supporting Gateway Mission’s pathways helping community members escape homelessness.
Holland, MI — Creative Dining Services is partnering with Holland-based Gateway Mission to open a new restaurant geared toward tackling homelessness in West Michigan. The Gateway Spoon Café & Grill will offer breakfast, brunch and lunch dining in a casual café-style dining experience. While they regularly support dining facilities for colleges, businesses, and senior living facilities, this is the first time Creative Dining will fully operate a public-facing restaurant of this kind.
“We regularly have people ask us, ‘How do I get involved? How can I support the homeless in our community?’” said Christina Terpstra, the Social Enterprise Director at Gateway Mission. “Aside from volunteering or donating, Gateway Spoon is going to be an excellent, easy way for anyone to support the mission while enjoying an amazing meal themselves.”
Creative Dining has a long history of feeding hungry people beyond their dining halls. They regularly support regional food banks around their client locations, as well as facilitate food rescue and donations to local food banks and soup kitchens. For the Creative Dining team, opening up a public-facing restaurant that supports an organization like Gateway Mission made sense as the next logical step.
“Not only does this partnership with Gateway align perfectly with both our values and our abilities, we get to help people right here in our West Michigan home,” said Jim Eickhoff, President and CEO of Creative Dining Services. “We get to provide the Holland community with a world-class dining experience in a brand new, beautiful restaurant and café. Diners get to enjoy a delicious, locally-sourced meal while simultaneously supporting an amazing cause. Everybody wins.”
Gateway Mission and Creative Dining are currently developing a program to equip homeless individuals with culinary, kitchen, and life skills to succeed in a work environment. They plan to provide hands-on, on-site job training at the Spoon to help individuals gain experience as chefs, waitstaff, etc. while earning wages to help them maintain their independence.
Gateway Spoon Café And Grill, which will be located next to the Gateway Store on 24th St in Holland, is expected to open its doors to the public this coming fall. The restaurant will also have a drive-thru for on-the-go diners opening in 2024. To stay up-to-date on the latest developments, follow Gateway Spoon’s Facebook page and keep an eye on the website.
About Creative Dining Services
Creative Dining Services partners with colleges, universities, Fortune 100 companies, full-service senior living communities, and conference centers to provide a different kind of hospitality and facility management services experience—one that’s fun, innovative, and focused on your community. Why? Because that’s how it should be. Our vision is to be the most trustworthy, flexible and attentive hospitality partner. It is only by fulfilling our vision that we are able to accomplish our number-one goal: enhancing your community with the customized dining program you both want and need. For more information, please visit www.creativedining.com.
About Gateway Mission
Gateway Mission is a non-profit organization based in Holland, MI that provides resources to neighbors struggling with hunger, homelessness, poverty, addiction and other challenges. They provide emergency services and long-term discipleship programs that help individuals overcome the root issues of poverty, addiction and homelessness so they can rebuild their lives from the inside out. For more information, please visit www.hopefoundhere.org.
Media Contact
Susan Golder, Associate VP of Business Development & Marketing
sgolder@creativedining.com
(616) 748-1700
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