City Harvest’s food donations enable Passage House to spend its time and money on providing extra services.
City Harvest surplus recipient, Passage House, Westminster, feeds roughly 40 individuals in a hostel connected to The Passage charity, dedicated to serving and supporting the homeless.
City Harvest’s food donations enable Passage House to spend its time and money on providing extra services – it helps keeps the lights on, the heating up, and the guests feeling safe and secure. It also helps them to maintain a budget for things like bedding, clothing, toiletries and more.
We met resident chef Mick Bottone and spent some time chatting about how City Harvest impacts Passage House:
“We pride ourselves on doing good, healthy food. If we didn’t provide food here, people would leave. If I had to buy every ingredient for our meals, I’d be over budget each time and it would mean we wouldn’t be able to do something else here. Because of the City Harvest donations, I’m generally able to stick to or go under my budget each week, which is amazing.”
Passage House Chef Mick: “[…] they know it’s cooked with love.”
Mick says the people who come are almost always desperate, destitute, and often feel scared and anxious and it’s his job, not only to cook, but to help them.
“When people leave here, they write a little note and apparently I am mentioned more than anyone because of the great food – they know it’s cooked with love.”
“I think people here just want to be remembered, you know. They are people whose lives have been so fragmented and messed about that a little bit extra just goes such a long way. So, when City Harvest brings us something a bit different – often, I know exactly who to give it to here. I’ll see them in the corridor and say, “Here you go mate; I remembered you!” that means so much for them – someone is looking out for them at a time in their lives when they feel no one else is. Just bothering with them, you know – it means so much”
And City Harvest is ingrained into the very fibre and every stage of the journey at Passage House.
“When people move in, I try and give them 2 or 3 day’s worth of ambient stuff from City Harvest so they can settle without having to stress out for the first couple of days. City Harvest food is also used in the breakfasts we give out every morning and when they move to a new place, they get City Harvest food to take with them. So, City Harvest plays a huge part in their beginnings, their present, and their future.”
“We pride ourselves on doing good, healthy food.”
If you’d like to support City Harvest, and inspiring charities such as Passage House, please donate and help us rescue food, people, and planet.
