By Dave Franzman KCRG TV9 | Posted: Tue 4:51 PM, Apr 04, 2017 | Updated: Tue 6:53 PM, Apr 04, 2017
Waverly, Iowa (KCRG TV9)- Diners in Waverly have a new lunch option. It’s one that hopes to blend something that tastes good with supporting a good cause. But if you missed the grand opening on Tuesday, you’ll have to wait a whole month to try again.
It’s called Cafe 506, because the location is 506 E. Bremer Ave. in Waverly, and there’s something definitely different about this lunch spot and a typical restaurant or diner. For one, it’s only open from 11:30 am until 1:00 pm on the first Tuesday of every month.
And all the help are volunteers with either the Waverly Senior Center or the Rally Point Cedar Valley Veterans group which operated a homeless shelter for veterans in Bremer County.
Kathy Schutte, manager of the senior center, was expecting about 50 people or so for lunch on the first day and hopes enough people are impressed to make it a regular monthly visit.
“We hope we’ve made such a fantastic experience for them they’ll pencil it in, actually ink it in, for the 1st Tuesday of every month,” Schutte said.
Organizers say there’s a couple of good reasons they’ll operate one day a month. That schedule does make it a regular event but it’s also not so frequent that it would burn out the volunteers needed to make it happen.
The senior center, where the “pop-up” restaurant is located and the homeless vets program will split the proceeds.
At $10 per diner, they were hoping to bring in about $1,000 to $1,500 per event.
As for diners, some on this first day, like Malissa Cousin, just like the idea of combing a good home cooked meal with a good cause.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to earn some money and for us to eat with people with don’t go to lunch with often,” she said.
Organizers hope this event becomes a once-a-month habit in the community. It will take place every month except January. They’ll also skip July this year only because the 1st Tuesday is also on the 4th of July.