A pay-as-you-feel cafe has opened at Narooma to help the hungry and satisfy social needs of the community.
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The Good Folk Kitchen is a project launched by two young women eager to "shake things up".
Founders Cydney Atkins and Steffi Bartel are creative in the kitchen together and said it was a great way to keep doing what they love whilst giving back to the community.
"We have the venue, the time and the drive to do it," Ms Bartel said.
Cydney Atkins' business, Bend and Sip Bar, has collaborated with it's events division, Friends of the South, to operate the non-profit cafe every Friday and Saturday.
The Good Folk Kitchen will use the space and infrastructure of Bend and Sip's cafe which has sat unused since it's closure due to COVID-19.
Ms Atkins said Bend and Sip continues to host music events and yoga classes but the cafe closed due to a lack of staff.
"All of the government payments that were given out - people didn't want work because they were getting paid anyway," she said.
Ms Atkins and Ms Bartel have worked on their idea to utilise the space, creating The Good Folk Kitchen, run by volunteers for the community.
What is a pay-as-you-feel cafe?
The idea is exactly how it sounds, you eat and then pay however much you like.
There are no set prices on The Good Folk menu, but simply a guide that says: "$10 will feed yourself, $20 will feed you and a neighbour or two. If money is an issue for you today, your presence is payment enough and your community is here for you."
Pay-as-you-feel cafes have proven to be successful in cities around the globe. Business models can differ and be used by both non-profit and for-profit businesses.
The Good Folk Kitchen is non-profit and their mission was to connect people and break down social and economic barriers.
Ms Atkins and Ms Bartel studied a successful restaurant chain, Lentil as Anything, which has no set prices. They were motivated to do something similar.
"The Good Folk Kitchen welcomes all walks of life; to bridge the gap between the different facets of community, whilst feeding people and providing a social environment for people to get together," Ms Bartel said.
"The idea is to come in and have a full cafe experience, then anonymously place a donation, whether that's $10 or $100."
Donations can be made electronically via Square, which is available on an iPad in the cafe. But Ms Atkins said: "you don't have to pay".
"At the end of the day, those people who can't pay are our target market, everybody else is just an incredible benefit to have," she said.
Fulfillment for volunteers as well as customers
Amid the pandemic, Ms Bartel and Ms Atkins initially questioned whether to start up The Good Folk Kitchen.
"We are in a hot environment at the moment and we thought 'maybe this is a bad idea, maybe this is irresponsible'?" Ms Atkins said.
They were reassured by friends who felt The Good Folk Kitchen would become an "essential service" to the community.
"We are creating a space for people to come and get that mental health check-in," Ms Atkins said.
She said trained volunteers were there for support.
"For people who come in solo, there will be volunteers here for people to sit down and have a chat with," she said.
Ms Atkins felt grateful to be able to help those less fortunate.
"Bend and Sip is about community and wellness," Ms Atkins said.
"It's a big open trendy space; we want to give people that experience and opportunity.
"Not everyone has the privilege to go and dine out. We are providing that privilege to anyone who can't afford it."
During the launch of The Good Folk Kitchen on Saturday, Ms Atkins said "donations came in and everything ran smoothly".
Acoustic musicians Mister Reeves and Val Moogz played throughout the day.
"Just over $600 was made, which was amazing," she said.
The kitchen will be open from 10am-2pm every Friday and Saturday. Volunteers can sign up via the website: bendandsip.com/good-folk
Big plans for the use of donations
Ms Bartel said monetary donations will be put towards the costs of food and kitchen equipment.
Further down the track, the duo hoped enough donations would accumulate to host free yoga classes and kids programs.
"We would like to be able to provide free services and programs for people, as well as jobs," Ms Atkins said.
"For kids program facilitators, we would love to give them a shift here once a week that we get to pay for with that funding of money."
Long term plans for The Good Folk Kitchen was to sponsor young musicians.
"Under the Friends of the South banner, we would love to sponsor music-minded kids, to help buy instruments and get them playing, and grow the live-music economy on the South Coast," she said.
However, it was uncharted waters for the pair, who said it was early days to determine the success of The Good Folk Kitchen. They hoped to receive enough support from the community to make a difference and see the project flourish.
Ms Atkins and Ms Bartel said Alfresco Coffee Roasters and Southlands Fruit and Veg have already jumped on board to donate goods as well as OzHarvest and Monty's Place who said they would donate excess food.
"Thursdays will be our deadline for food donations, then Cyd and I will put our heads together to create a menu," Ms Bartel said.
Two young women who care about community
Both Ms Bartel and Ms Atkins moved back home to the coast after experiencing life in big cities.
They are two eager mates who love creating social scenes and helping others to connect.
Ms Atkins was a Narooma High School graduate and completed tertiary studies in Psychology.
She began her career in Wollongong, opening a yoga fitness studio.
"I started up a fitness and yoga studio but I was just a little fish in a big pond," she said.
She moved home to Narooma when COVID-19 hit, and said it has been "such a buzz" since.
Ms Atkins was addicted to helping others and knew the community would benefit from a health and wellness business.
"Coming back down here, you have a blank canvas and a community that is so hungry for it," she said.
"It is really motivational, because you can come up with an idea and make it happen."
Ms Bartel met up with Ms Atkins when COVID-19 also brought her to Narooma after working overseas.
She spent early days of the pandemic in a third-world country lockdown, cooking for displaced people.
Ms Bartel saw Narooma through a different lens. She said under-privileged people were often "masked".
"It's different to the big cities," she said.
"There is a lot of poverty and displaced people in Narooma, you just don't see it."
The duo saw a real need for social cohesion, especially after the bushfires and through pandemic.
They were inspired to help by creating The Good Folk Kitchen, with the ultimate goal to strengthen the community.
