*All donations made through this campaign go directly to the repayment fund. This fund will be used to pay back Cristaudo's Cafe. Additional donations past the amount due will be put into a Service Industry Support fund.

Help the Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen become sustainable!

Collaborative Kitchen is an experiment in community support. How can we show up for each other when we need it the most? How can we create a community that can trust in the resilience and support of it’s members?

We do this through our pay-what-you can meals, created in partnership with local restaurants and using local ingredients whenever possible. This allows us to make sure that our community members can access meals regardless of finances. This also allows us to invest in our local restaurant economy by working directly with locally owned businesses and food producers. The money that goes to Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen makes a reverberating impact in our local community by supporting individuals and businesses that live and work in this area.

But how is it paid for?

Ideally, the pay-what-you can model will have enough participants that can pay in to cover the costs of those that can’t. This is why you should utilize the Collaborative Kitchen even if you are financially stable. Your contribution to the program helps cover the cost for others!

In practice, we have found that with a limited distribution, we are not able to expand to a sustainable level. This means that our costs have been offset by support from funding from the City of Carbondale, grants, Sustaining Donors, fundraisers and investments from Cristaudo’s Cafe.

So how does it become sustainable?

With what we have learned since starting this project, we have new plans for the future of the Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen to reduce costs while expanding access to pay-what-you-can meals. In practice, this will look like moving from a singular distribution format to Meal Banks that will be available at local restaurants so everyone can access meals more frequently and with less caps on availability.

It also looks like repaying our debt to Cristaudo’s Cafe!

More about the Meal Banks

In 2025, we will move to a new Meal Bank format to help address access issues with our current distribution model. Currently, we work with restaurants to create meals that are distributed weekly from Cristaudo’s Cafe. This creates access issues in a few ways. The early online ordering system means that meals are frequently out before many can request them. The set time of the distribution means those who are not able to pick up on Saturdays are also not able to utilize the program. This has stagnated our ability to grow.

When we launch the meal banks, we will be able to provide local restaurants with a “Meal Bank” a set amount of meals that are paid for by Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen and are available to anyone at each restaurant. This allows meals to be paid for in advance and made fresh when requested.

This change will help us reduce waste, remove time-frame restrictions, and expand location access outside of Carbondale. It also allows more people to participate in the program at differing levels. No-cost meals will be limited by the amount of meals in the bank BUT Cover-the-cost meals and Cover-Another meals will not be limited and Cover-Another meals will add back to the meal bank in real time.

The dream is to create these Meal Banks in local restaurants and help them become self-sustaining in their locations so we can then use our funding to establish new meal banks all over Southern Illinois and create new funds to support Service Workers and Community Activists.

But first, repaying our debt

The owners of Cristaudo’s Cafe helped establish the Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen and have kept it running through production of meals, cookies, breads, and quiches and choosing time and time again to forgo repayment in favor of keeping the meal distribution alive.

They have provided not only the food but, labor and space to the Collaborative Kitchen for years. While, we have occasional volunteers, the meal distribution is largely orchestrated by the Cristaudo’s staff and utilizing their space. Without their help, the Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen would not have made it this far.

After all of these years of support from Cristaudo’s Cafe, we want to reciprocate and help ensure that this community hub stays open and grows alongside the Collaborative Kitchen and the Southern Illinois community.

Why it’s needed now

The Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen owes Cristaudo’s Cafe around $25,000. To help us reach our future goals of sustainability and expansion of support systems, we must first honor our community debt and show our reciprocal support.

Like most restaurants, Cristaudo’s took a big hit during the shut down associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. While it’s easy to look around and see open and bustling businesses, if you dig a little deeper you’ll find that most are still recovering from months of shutdown and the loss of momentum coupled with staff reformations, changing consumer habits and the ongoing impacts of illness. Cristaudo’s is still recovering and the best support we can give in this moment is to repay our debt.

Cristaudo’s is more than a café, bakery, and catering service—it’s a Carbondale staple and Southern Illinois community hub. For over 40 years, Cristaudo’s has been a home for birthdays, first dates, family dinners, and everyday connections. It’s been a meeting spot for community activists, local artists and musicians. Cristaudo’s has been showing up for Southern Illinois and it’s residents for decades and now it is time that we show up for Carbondale. Cristaudo’s is more than a business—it is a part of Carbondale’s heart, and we need to keep it beating.

A strong, resilient community benefits us all. When we choose to help when and where we can we are able to rely on each other and rest assured knowing that when we need help, we have a network that has our back. Cristaudo’s chooses to help every time they can and this community is stronger for it. Help us show up for Cristaudo’s in they same they have shown up for us over the years because

Our Community is Stronger When Everyone Eats

Support the Cristuado's Cafe Repayment Plan!

Repayment to Cristaudo's Cafe is an essential milestone in the long-term sustainability and growth plan for Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen