Where are you located?

610 Haywood Rd. Suite B.

Asheville, NC 28806 (Entrance off State St.)

What are your cafe hours?

We are open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

10 am cafe opens for coffee; 11 am to 1 pm - Lunch is served and free store is open

How can I donate food?

We accept already prepared food and will pick it up from your location. We can also accept unopened pantry items as well as dog and cat food.

Food must be prepared in a Health Department-inspected facility and all donations must adhere to ServSafe guidelines for time and temperature. We also ask that you label the food with the date prepared and your organization.

If you are a restaurant or caterer, you can email us at CONTACT@ASHEVILLEPOVERTYINITIATIVE.ORG and let us know what you have and we will work on getting a volunteer over to pick up the food.

How can I volunteer at the Cafe?

We serve hot lunch as well as operate a grocery store out of our community cafe Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 11 - 1 pm.

If you would like to volunteer during that time we encourage you to come to a new volunteer orientation Thursday morning. If that doesn't work for your schedule please send our cafe coordinator an email (aaron@ashevillepovertyinitiative.org) or come pitch in around 10:30 am. We function like a cafe/restaurant so you would help by casually waiting on tables, helping with dishes, or helping in our free grocery store. There is always time for you to sit down to eat and meet people yourself as well!

What about groups?

12 Baskets Cafe operates in a very small space. We are always excited to host groups, but we have to schedule these carefully. Please contact our cafe coordinator, Aaron Ortego, with any group service requests. Thanks, and we look forward to having you at the Cafe!

Is there any other way I can help?

Another essential need at 12 Baskets Café is actually getting the food to the café safely and timely. We have a schedule of food pickups from grocery stores, restaurants and markets. Some of our food partners include, Whole Foods, Earthfare, Mela, Food Connection, Asheville Pro Kitchen, Givens Estate, and more!

You can sign up to help with that here!

How can I find out more about the education program?

You can visit the education page here for more information and take a look at all of our offerings.