WS Chronicle

By Judie Holcomb-Pack

For 30 years Hope du Jour has been a much-anticipated community event, bringing together restaurants and diners on the first Tuesday in May to support the work of Crisis Control Ministry. This year would have been the 31st year.

But all that changed when Crisis Control decided to turn the tables on their Hope du Jour restaurants. 

Instead of asking the community to eat out at participating restaurants for one day with 10% of their sales going to Crisis Control, they decided that after 30 years, it was time to support Forsyth County restaurants that have been struggling to survive during the pandemic.

Abby McCall, director of community and volunteer relations, said that staff started discussing plans for the 2021 event in January. They contacted restaurant owners and managers for their feedback and were told that they were still holding on, trying to wait out the pandemic. After a discussion of the realistic expectation that restaurant dining may not return in full swing for many months, it was obvious a new strategy was needed. The decision was made to do something to help their Hope du Jour restaurants that have been so supportive of Crisis Control over the years. Through Zoom calls with restaurant owners and staff that provided insight as to their current situation, a new idea was born: Hungry for Hope. The campaign would run for the month of June, but instead of asking people to dine out to support Crisis Control, they would be encouraged to dine out to support local restaurants. Neither patrons nor restaurants would be asked for donations.

Hope du Jour has been a big part of the annual income budget for Crisis Control. McCall said that they have received solid financial support from the community during the pandemic and felt they could manage without the income from the event for this year. Hope du Jour sponsors eagerly got on board and continued their financial support to underwrite the cost of marketing Hungry for Hope and printing posters and other materials. Instead of table tents, brochures were created for restaurants to have available for customers to learn more about Crisis Control and the services they provide to the community.

So far, it’s been a win-win for everyone, with many positive comments from both restaurants and Crisis Control supporters. 

Claire Calvin, owner of The Porch and Alma Mexicana, has been a Hope du Jour restaurant for several years. Calvin remarked, “Obviously it’s been hard for restaurants, but we know it’s been hard for a lot of other folks as well. We really appreciate the thoughtfulness of Crisis Control to support restaurants in this way.”

For a list of Hope du Jour restaurants, visit www.hopedujour.org. For more information on Crisis Control Ministry and their services, visit www.crisiscontrol.org.