Vert & Vogue to Donate Proceeds to Urban Ministries March 23

One of Durham, NC's hallmarks is that the people who live there are engaged in their community with an eye toward making it better for everyone. Many of the modern conveniences of big city life are in Durham, but residents and business owners still hold on to small-town values like looking out for their neighbors.

Vert & Vogue boutique in Durham’s Brightleaf Square  is one of those businesses that cares for neighbors in need. For the second year in a row, they’re teaming up  with Urban Ministries of Durham to donate 20% of Its sales to benefit urban Ministries of Durham.

On Saturday, March 23rd, the boutique will unveil its newly renovated showroom, spring collection and Vert & Vogue line of women’s shirting. To celebrate, the business will donate 20% of its sales that day to support the work of Urban Ministries.

Vert & Vogue will also leverage their annual spring client clothing exchange to build the stock of clothing available at Dress for Success. This will help women who are assisted by Urban Ministries improve their self-image and perception in the world.

For more information, email
Ryan Hurley, owner of Vert & Vogue or Bryan Gilmer, director of marketing & development at Urban Ministries of Durham.

For more information about great things happening in Durham, NC click here.

Urban Ministries of Durham’s 7th Annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser Takes Place March 7th

A full belly is something many who read this take for granted - if they even think about it at all.  For many, though, the sensation is at best a recent memory.  Durham's Urban Ministries works to fix that problem and others, and raises money and awareness each year with the Empty Bowls event which is an approachable way for people to be part of the solution, and for local restaurants to have a chance to compete and show off a bit.  That's a double bonus for attendees given the quality of Durham's chefs.

The annual battle for the “Best Soup in Durham” will take place Thursday, March 7th from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at the Durham Convention Center (301 West Morgan Street).  Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD) will hold its seventh annual Empty Bowls event presented by Olive & Olive, P.A. to raise much-needed funds to help UMD serve over 200,000 meals a year to those in need.

Attendees get to sample soups prepared by more than a dozen local restaurants and can vote for their favorite.  The light dinner of soup is a reminder that many people in Durham do not have enough to eat.  Local artists and artisans have donated their talents to create over 800 hand-crafted bowls for attendees to pick and take home.  There is also a panel of celebrity judges who vote and the evening will be serenaded by Moment’s Notice/St. Ambrose Jazz Mass Quartet.

More than 900 tickets were sold last year raising over $30,000 to benefit the people served by Urban Ministries of Durham’s Community Café.

There are three types of tickets to the event this year. The Hot Ticket includes soup and a bowl for $50.  It’s a hot ticket because you can have first choice of the bowls from 5:30 pm until 6:00 pm. There will only be 200 of these tickets available. The Regular Ticket includes soup and bowl for $35.  Bowls can be picked after 6:00 pm. Then there is the  Soup Only Ticket for $15.00
Children six and under can attend for free, and tickets can be bought online at online.

This year's roster of competing restaurants, and the soups they will be making, certainly makes it easy to justify the purchase price of a ticket.  They are:

• 604 at West Village: Tomato Polenta
• Bleu Olive Mediterranean Bistro: Chicken Avgolemono
• Bull City Burger and Brewery: Vegetarian White Chipotle Chili
• Durham Convention Center: Roasted Butternut Bisque with Pear and Sage
• The Mad Hatter’s Café and Bake Shop: Lime Chick and Roasted Corn
• Mediterranean Deli: Lentil Soup
• Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse: Catfish Stew
• Piedmont:  Cream of Kale Soup with Sourdough Croutons
• Pizzeria Toro: Lettuce Soup with Brown Butter Croutons and Clabber
• Saladelia Café:  Vegan Black Bean Chili
• Six Plates Wine Bar: Sweet Potato Bisque
• The Pit: Brunswick Stew
• Thrills From the Grill: Collard Green Soup
• Toast Paninoteca: Spicy Chickpea Puree with Lemony Swiss Chard
• Urban Ministries of Durham Community Café:  French Onion Soup
• Watts Grocery: White Bean and Pancetta

The soups will be judged by a panel of some of Durham's culinary luminaries, and other prominent members of the community, and attendees can vote, too.  At the end, both a fan favorite and a judge's favorite will be named.  The judges are: 

• Jay O'Berski:  Artistic director of The Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern and teaches acting at Duke.
• Sean Lilly Wilson:  Founder and Chief Executive Optimist of Fullsteam Brewery
• Tisha Powell:  Co-anchor for WTVD ABC11 Eyewitness News
• Mike Woodard:  State Senator
• Johanna Kramer:  Food blogger for johannakramer.com

Learn more about all of the great food events happening here all the time on the Durham Event Calendar, and more about dining in Durham online.

Urban Ministries of Durham’s 6th Annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser Takes Place March 8th

Durham was recently ranked as the most tolerant city in America - it is a town that takes care of its citizens - in part because its citizens take care of one another. The annual Empty Bowls fundraiser is a great example of how.

The annual battle for the “Best Soup in Durham” will take place Thursday, March 8th from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Durham Armory (220 Foster Street). Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD) will hold its sixth annual Empty Bowls event presented by RTI International to raise much-needed funds to help UMD serve over 200,000 meals a year to those in need.  New to this year’s event is an after party hosted by Fullsteam Brewery (726 Rigsbee Avenue) and Motorco (723 Rigsbee Avenue) at 8:00 pm featuring live music and a food truck round-up.

Empty Bowls features chefs from some of Durham’s finest restaurants such as blu seafood and bar, Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse, Revolution, Watts Grocery, Whole Foods Café, Toast, Thrills from the Grill, L’Uva, Saladelia Café, Guglhupf and Mad Hatter’s Café and Bakeshop. The chefs will present their tasty soups and battle for the title of “Best Soup in Durham.”  Tickets are $30 each and include a one-of-a-kind keepsake bowl created by local artisans at Claymakers, Clayworks Guild, Carrboro Clay, Havenhill Studios and Durham Arts Council.  There is also a $15 ticket available for attendees who just want to sample soup only. Children six and under can attend for free.

The “People’s Choice” award will be voted on by attendees and the “Judge’s Choice” award will be voted on by a panel of local celebrity judges including Locopops owner Summer Bicknell, Parker and Otis owner Jennings Brody, WTVD news anchor Tisha Powell, Fullsteam Brewery owner Sean Wilson and Independent Weekly editor Lisa Sorg. Frank Stasio, host of “The State of Things” on WUNC will be the evening’s emcee.

The after party at Fullsteam Brewery keeps the fundraising going with a food truck round-up featuring Pie Pushers, Will & Pops, The Parlour, Chirba Chirba, Klausie’s Pizza, Only Burger and The Sausage Wagon. Each truck will debut an “exclusive new dish” suitable for a bowl with 10% of their proceeds being donated to UMD.

“We are so pleased to see this annual event grow to include even more businesses and members of the community,” said UMD Executive Director Patrice Nelson.  “The demand for food, clothing and shelter continues to climb and the generosity of everyone involved with this event is inspiring and much appreciated.”

Last year’s event sold out with close to 800 attendees bringing in close to $30,000 for UMD. Due to the popularity of the event, attendees are encouraged to order tickets prior to the event.  To purchase tickets, stop by UMD at 410 Liberty Street or visit Urban Ministries of Durham's website. 

Fresh from Durham Farmers' Market

Last Saturday Durham Farmers' Market kicked off their Farmer Foodshare Donation Station. The Farmer Foodshare aims to raise local funds at farmers’ markets to buy top-quality fresh local food for people at risk for hunger. Alternately, shoppers buy food from farmers and donate it, or give cash which goes to the purchase and donation of goods on their behalf. Farmers also donate excess food. In total, about 195 pounds of food were donated by market goers and delivered to the Urban Ministries Community Cafe.  The Farmer Foodshare Donation Station is located at the center of the Pavilion every Saturday and will be at the Wednesday Market in mid-May!

Wednesday Market is now open and in full swing!  It is open every week from 3:30 to 6:30.  From 3:30 to 6:30 on Wednesdays, you'll find the same great fruits and vegetables, meats, eggs, cheeses, flowers, baked goods, and plants as the those listed below.

Heading to the market? Here are the items that will be fresh this week:

Fruit:  Strawberries  

Vegetables:  SUGAR SNAP PEAS, NEW POTATOES, GREENHOUSE CUCUMBERS,  Asparagus, Artichokes!, Arugula, Bok Choy,  Beets, Braising Greens, Broccoli, Broccoli Raab, Celery, Chinese Cabbage, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower Collards, Escarole, Fennel, Frisee, Green Garlic, Green Onions, Herbs (Cilantro, Oregano, Parsley, Dill, Chives),  Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Radishes, Parsley, Pea Shoots, Salad Mix,  Shiitake Mushrooms, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Tat Soi,  Greenhouse Tomatoes,  Turnips - white and purple,  Turnip Greens

Flowers:  Batchelor Buttons, Delphiniums, Dutch Iris, Icelandic Poppies, Ranunculus, Sweet William

Meats: Beef, Bison, Chicken, Goat/Chevon, Lamb, Pork

And: Honey, Chicken Eggs, Flour, Yellow & White Cornmeal, Grits, Pecans, Wines, Fresh and Aged Goats and Cows Milk Cheeses, Baked Goods, Pasta, Beer, Wine, Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Preserves, Handmade Chocolates, Wool, Landscaping Plants and Vegetable Transplants

Empty Bowl? Guess Your Money Got SPENT.

Durhamites love good food, and the food community delivers on that as aggressively as the public asks them to. Proof of that is coming this Thursday night at the annual Empty Bowls Benefit held in the Durham Armory from 5:30 to 8:30. Tickets can be purchased here.

The event raises money for the Urban Ministries of Durham's Community Cafe' which serves three meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.  Some of Durham's best chefs, restaurants and food retailers will bring soups and set up at the Armory for attendees to sample each product at their own pace. There will also be desserts. Funds are raised through ticket sales, as well as through the sale of handmade ceramic bowls supplied by several local organizations. There will be live music and a great crowd of like-minded folks with whom to mingle and support a great cause.

When the event is over, don't let UMD's purpose escape...the plight of the homeless is a core focus for them and they have an interesting tool to help supporters get the message even more concretely. The organization also directs a lot of attention and energy to teaching people how easy it is to become financially insolvent. In a cooperative effort with McKinney, the largest advertising agency in the Southeast and based in Durham, the "game" SPENT was developed as a tool to educate the public on how easy it is to become homeless. In short, the game is not fun; it is sobering, real, and thought-provoking. Having received significant national attention, the game has gone viral and is receiving traffic from around the world. One play is typically all it takes to drive the message home.