Community Suppers
Join the Hinesburgh Public House on the first Tuesday of each month for a special Community Supper. We will be donating 15% of our sales that evening to a local organization so, join us for your choice from our locally sourced menu to benefit a good cause! Visit our events calendar for list of dates and organizations.
Interested in hosting a Community Supper for your organization? We support organizations that are either strengthening communities through social programming or are preserving Vermont's working landscape with food production or processing. Organizations should fit within these guidelines:
- Have an annual operating budget under $250,000.
- Serve the communities of Hinesburg, Starksboro, Monkton, Charlotte, Shelburne, St George, Williston, Richmond and Huntington.
- Are non-profit or tax exempt and non-political.
Get in touch and let's make it happen.
*article written by Will Patten; previously printed in The Citizen June 11, 2015
"Hinesburg’s Public House is a Vermont Benefit Corporation. Its corporate charter states that the company exists to serve the interests of 5 stakeholder groups: local food producers, guests, staff, the local community and investors. From this public and legal commitment springs the concept of the Community Supper.
On the first Tuesday of every month the Public House partners with a local non-profit organization to raise both money and awareness of the good work they do. The non-profit will work with the Public House to promote the event and attract as many diners as possible. The Public House will offer, in addition to their regular menu, a 3-course meal for $20 and then donates half of that amount to the non-profit. If one hundred people enjoy the community supper, the non-profit receives a check for $1000. Members of the organization are usually present in the lobby with information about their programs.
“Community Suppers are the best way we can achieve all 5 parts of our mission at the same time.’ Says Public House owner, Will Patten. The menu usually features locally grown food. Our guests are able to support a good organization while enjoying a good meal. The staff enjoys the added business on an otherwise slow night. The local community benefits from the work of the non-profit. Investors are happy because new guests have come to know the Public House.
Requests from non-profits to participate in this rather painless fund-raising effort have come from all over the state from organizations with diverse missions. “We realized we needed to better align the Suppers with our mission” says Patten, “so we now partner only with grassroots organizations engaged in strengthening the working landscape or in building community.”
“First Tuesdays are always interesting” said Public House bartender Anna Novine. “If were helping the local nursery school the place with look and sound like a school yard at recess. Other groups attract their own demographic. It’s never boring.”
Success for a partnering organization is solely a function of the energy invested. Patten recounts that one of the best attended suppers was for an organization that very few people this side of Richmond knew much about, Our Community Cares Camps. But because the Board and staff did such a terrific job promoting the event, they attracted a big crowd and raised a lot of money. Grassroots organizations tend to do better than more established groups according to Patten.
The year fills up with commitments pretty quickly but there are a few months open this year. Interested organizations should contact the Public House by phone (482-5500) or email (info@hinesburghpublichouse.com). The Public House opened in December of 2012 and serves a varied menu of locally sourced, made-from-scratch food and artisanal beverages."
