TOLEDO – With the closing of a donation based, nonprofit restaurant in Downtown Toledo, it won’t be the SAME for those who face food insecurities.
The SAME Café – an acronym for So All May Eat – closed its doors in Toledo’s Main Library on April 23 after providing meals for 2½ years on a participation model, where people either donated money or volunteered their time to receive a healthy meal.
“This café has had a big impact. I have seen some life-changing impacts on a lot of people,” said Claudia Annoni, executive director, on the café’s closing day. “It’s been participation-based. People have come together for meals. They are not eating for free; they are helping out by wiping the tables, serving the food. It’s a welcoming place. It’s someplace safe.”
Toledo’s SAME Café opened on Nov. 4, 2022, and typically served about 80 meals at lunchtime from Monday through Friday…