WS Chronicle

By Judie Holcomb-Pack

Hope du Jour has been a much anticipated community event for over 30 years. On the first Tuesday in May, many people perused the long list of participating restaurants and, along with family, friends and coworkers, they planned their dining destinations like a general mapping out a battle plan. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, or in-between coffee breaks or an afternoon wine-down, choices were made based on a restaurant’s participation. Diners felt good eating out, knowing a portion of that restaurant’s sales would be donated to Crisis Control Ministry (CCM) to help our neighbors with their emergency financial needs.

And then the pandemic hit.

“2020 forced everything to change,” said Ryan Moody, CCM’s special events and marketing manager. “We wanted to keep Hope du Jour going, but the restaurant community had been so impacted that we decided to move it to September.” Like many of us in mid-2020, he had high hopes that things would improve by the fall.

But things were no better for restaurants in September. 

CCM has always valued the strong partnerships they have with local restaurants and their support of Hope du Jour over the years has been invaluable. In fact, several restaurants had participated from the very beginning, over 25 years. But now they needed help. So, Crisis Control Ministry turned the event upside down and promoted the Hope du Jour restaurants, but did not ask any restaurant for a donation. Instead, they urged the community to dine in or take out to support the restaurants that were continuing to struggle.

2021 came around and the pandemic continued to impact the local restaurants.

Crisis Control again saw the need to support the restaurant community as a way to thank them for their years of continued support. So in 2021, Hope du Jour changed to Hope for the Hungry for the entire month of June. The community was encouraged to dine in or take out at a local restaurant and again, no donations were requested. The restaurant owners were very appreciative of how a nonprofit pivoted to support them.

It’s now 2022 and “We’re back!” said Moody. 

Even though a few restaurants are still struggling, especially to find enough workers to have a full wait staff, they are happy to see Hope du Jour return to its normal routine. Posters and yard signs dot windows and parking lots and restaurants are gearing up for a big day for both themselves and Crisis Control.

“We have over 100 food and beverage locations this year,” said Moody. “And it’s not just eateries, but also coffee and bagel shops, breweries and bakeries.”

Moody also reminded us that Hope du Jour is not the only way that local eateries and beverage businesses support our community. They give back all year long through in-kind donations and event sponsorships. Hope du Jour can increase sales significantly on what is usually the slowest day of the week for restaurants. And the donations CCM receives is a significant part of their annual budget. It’s a win-win for all.

For more information or a list of participating restaurants, go to www.hopedujour.org. Can’t dine out on May 3? You can donate a “second helping” online at www.crisiscontrol.org.