Eat, Drink and Build Community

KEENE, NH - The Local Crowd Monadnock, Culinary Journeys, and Food Connects will partner to launch The Monadnock Restaurant Project, a homegrown stimulus effort. On February 3, 2021, from 12 p.m - 12:30 p.m., organizers will hold a press conference to introduce this project and answer questions. To receive a link, please register here.

Missed the press conference? View it here!

This project will invest $10,000 and purchase gift cards from participating locally-owned restaurants. Organizers plan to strategically disperse these gift cards to community members who will spend these cards quickly, providing an immediate shot in the arm to Keene's local economy this winter.

"It could be a really rough few months for our fellow restaurateurs and if we don't do something soon, we could lose some of the businesses on the edge," said Luca Paris, owner of Luca's Mediterranean Café. "We can’t wait for someone else to help us. Eat, drink and build community! Let's do this as a community—quickly and safely."

Organizers anticipate that community members will spend twice the amount of their gift cards when redeemed, doubling the impact of this project by infusing $20,000 to these cash-strapped businesses.

According to the Monadnock Indie Impact Study, locally-owned retailers return 62.4% of their revenue to the local economy, while national chain retailers return just 13.6% of revenue—meaning that locally owned businesses return over 4x more money to the local economy compared to chain retailers. Dispersing $10,000 in gift cards will lead to at least $40,000 in economic activity, an immediate stimulus that can be replicated in other parts of the region.

Learn more at tlcmonadnock.com/stimulus.

The Local Crowd Monadnock

The Local Crowd Monadnock is a community-based crowdfunding program helping start-up ventures, early-growth stage companies and community-focused projects find access to capital. Since TLC Monadnock launched in March 2017, twenty-six crowdfunding campaigns have collectively raised over $230,000 from 1,990 supporters: tlcmonadnock.com.

Culinary Journeys

Culinary Journeys offers scholarships to culinary students from the Cheshire Career Center at Keene High School. 

Food Connects 

Food Connects is an entrepreneurial non-profit that delivers locally produced food as well as educational and consulting services aimed at transforming local food systems. The Food Hub aggregates and delivers from over 115 local farms and food producers to over 195 buyers in southeast Vermont, southwest New Hampshire, and western Massachusetts. Their educational services focus Farm to School programming. Acknowledged as a statewide leader, the program supports over 30 schools to increase local food purchasing, school meal participation, and food, farm, and nutrition education. Together these core programs contribute to a vibrant local economy by increasing local food purchases by schools and improving students’ nutrition and academic performance. Additionally, Food Connects is frequently hired to provide leadership and consulting services for efforts aimed at transforming local food systems in the New England region.