Refugees face major hurdles in just getting to New Zealand. Unfortunately, for many that’s not where the struggle ends – finding a job, a support network, and a place in the community can all be difficult for those new to our country. This is where Pomegranate Kitchen comes in.
Pomegranate Kitchen is a social enterprise dedicated to serving the people of Wellington wonderful food – and in doing so, helping to train, employ, and provide support for former refugees. Starting this month, they’ll be delivering lunches, providing catering, and popping up all over the place with incredible cuisine for Wellingtonians to take advantage of. They just need your help to make it happen.
We wanted to hear more about why places like Pomegranate Kitchen are such a wonderful way to welcome former refugees into the community – so we got in touch with General Manager Rebecca Stewart:
How are you finding the campaign so far?
We have been blown away by the generosity of our crowd. It’s such a buzz seeing all the pledges come in, as well as the encouraging messages. As some have been directed at our cooks I have been reading them out in the kitchen on their mid morning breaks. People have been sending messages of welcome to them, and it’s a nice feeling knowing that others think our idea is as good as we think it is!
What do you have planned for the rest of the campaign – anything for us to look forward to?
We are workshopping a lot more menu items at the moment so there may well be – watch this space!
Anything you want to shout out to your crowd?
First, if you have any questions about us or the way we run Pomegranate then do get in touch – my contact details are on the website, or you can reach us through Twitter or Facebook. I had someone contact me recently who wanted to know more about our financial structure and the involvement of the cooks before they Pledged, and we are absolutely happy to answer those questions or any others.
Also, if you’re not sure yet if you’d like to Pledge (and you live in Wellington) then come down at taste our wares at the Moore Wilson’s Tory St pop-up until the 23 October! We are there every day from 11am-3pm.
