2024
North Texas Giving Day
Communities Foundation of Texas’ North Texas Giving Day is an 18-hour online giving event designed to empower every person to give back to their community by supporting local nonprofits and causes they care about in one easy-to-use platform.
Taste Project’s flagship program is Taste Community Restaurant, which is more than your average restaurant; it’s a community place where all are welcome regardless of means. All community members are invited in to “taste and see”; people in need can meet people who want to help — all with dignity, love, and respect.
Pay-What-You-Can Meal Service
Opened in 2017, Taste Community Restaurant is a full-service restaurant located in the heart of 76104. The menu has no prices and guests pay what they can. Those in need and those wanting to help are not segregated, in order to create an environment that is approachable and refreshing. Guests can do one of the following:
- Pay what you can afford,
- pay what you would typically pay, or
- pay what you would typically pay, plus a little extra to help a neighbor in need.
This give-and-take concept has proven models across the country with nearly one million meals served each year from community cafes like Taste Community Restaurant. It doesn’t replace soup kitchens and food banks; it only provides another innovative option by providing a venue for individuals and families to fill their bellies without shame. Now, there is no reason for anyone in our
community to go hungry.
With the Taste Community Restaurant serving as the hub of the Taste Project organization, other programs are being implemented to address some of the root causes of hunger in the community.
Foodservice Job Training Program
The Foodservice Job Training Program is a 16-week, tuition-free Foodservice Apprenticeship program. Apprentices receive paid work experience while earning their American Culinary Federation Fundamentals Cook Certification and job placement at a living wage. As a collaboration between Taste Project, the Tarrant Area Food Bank, the Culinary School of Fort Worth, and Texas Workforce Solutions, the program focuses on low-income adults with the goal of poverty reduction and household stabilization.
Farm and Garden Program
The Farm and Garden Program provides another opportunity for our community to connect over food. Taste Community Restaurant is located in the city’s largest food desert. Our farm and garden project focuses on growing food in the same food desert we distribute and serve in. We have been granted 1/3 acre at Opal’s Farm where we began growing fresh fruits and vegetables in Spring 2021. In addition, Taste Community Garden transformed a once vacant lot into a beautiful patio/garden scape on-site at Taste Community Restaurant.