New Kensington's pay-what-you-can Knead Cafe buoyed by donations

Becky White strapped on a paper mask shortly before noon Tuesday and walked from her New Kensington home to pick up her lunch from a neighborhood place she adores — the Knead Community Cafe.

White, a regular customer, is among those hoping that the pay-what-you-can cafe won’t become a casualty of the pandemic-spurred lockdown.

“People like me that have lived here all my life, when you see somebody trying to make a change for the better, you just want to encourage them and say, ‘Go! Go! I’m behind you,’ “ White said. “I, too, want to support them and encourage them to keep up what they’re doing.”

The nonprofit’s business model of setting a negotiable price for freshly made meals enables those who can afford to pay a little more to subsidize free meals for those who can’t. The husband-wife ownership team of Kevin and Mary Bode have become increasingly embedded in the local community and lauded for their innovative approach to improving the lives of residents since opening in 2017.

“I don’t want to take for granted that they have to (serve the community) — they don’t have to — but they have a heart for people,” White said, “and because they have a heart, it makes me have a heart for them.”

Revenue sags amid shutdown

White was among a handful of customers to place orders during the first portion of the cafe’s lunch service, which runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays.

The Knead cafe near Barnes and 10th streets has remained open for takeout since Pennsylvania’s shutdown began in mid-March, but business has been quite slow, according to Kevin Bode, 55.

“We’ve decided to keep open as long as we can,” said Bode, a financial adviser who lives within walking distance of the cafe and keeps an office upstairs.

Some days, the cafe’s mostly volunteer staff has taken as few as 10 orders totaling about $100.

Prior to the covid-19 outbreak, the cafe would serve as many as 100 people for sit-down orders, and as many as 200 or 300 during monthly dinners. The cafe also is having to cancel fundraising events and stop renting out its banquet hall — revenue sources that make up about 30% of the nonprofit’s $300,000 to $350,000 annual budget.

Usually, about 70% of customers can afford to pay what the food costs or give a little extra — such as paying $15 for an $8 meal — and about 30% of meals are given away for free. Now, closer to half of customers are requesting free or discounted meals.

“So we’re losing revenue, and we’re giving out more free meals than we ever have before,” Bode said. “A lot of other restaurants in the area have closed because they can’t do just takeout.”

Donors provide temporary infusion

A series of recent financial gifts will help Knead make payroll and continue to offer takeout meals for at least the next few months.

Two cash infusions were announced last week: The Pittsburgh Foundation pledged $25,000 to Knead as part of its Emergency Action Fund to provide relief to nonprofits during the pandemic; and Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and his wife, Catherine, made an unspecified donation to the cafe.

“It’s been a blessing that we’ve gotten them and have been able to keep our doors open,” Bode said.

Bode also has applied directly for additional funds from individuals and families who have donor-advised funds managed by The Pittsburgh Foundation.

People also are dropping by the cafe unannounced just to pitch in. Knead has been celebrating its donors on its Facebook page.

“We’ve had a lot of nice people who have been super supportive,” Bode said. “Once a week or so, they’ll come in and give us a check.”

When the shutdown began, several restaurants donated food — they have a lot of potatoes — but that extra supply is getting scarce and much of it was perishable.

‘Volunteers miss being here’

The cafe has five paid staff, including two cooks, so of the dozen or so working on a given day, most are volunteers. They increased payroll last year to hire a full-time general manager.

Food options span freshly prepared soups, salads, burgers, and hot meatloaf and chicken salad sandwiches, with listed prices in the range of $3 for a side salad, $5 for a french onion soup, $6 for an entree salad and $8 for Rita’s Flying Fish Sandwich.

Customers enter to find a hand sanitizer by the entrance and workers taking care to keep everything safe and sanitary, including wearing gloves and masks during food preparation, and extra steps like using disinfectant wipes to clean salad dressing containers before they place them in the takeout bags.

Many volunteers who typically help serve customers have been told they don’t need to come in until Gov. Tom Wolf decides that restaurants can allow in-person service again.

“We have so many volunteers that miss being here. It’s a lot more than just feeding people,” Bode said. “We’ve helped people get jobs. We’ve helped people with their housing situations. We have people that volunteer that are just here because they’ve gone through a really bad spot in their life, and we treat them like family.”

Reach the Knead Community Cafe by visiting KneadCommunityCafe.org or calling 878-847-7997.