Partner of the Month July 2022 — Bull‘s Horn Food and Drink

For several months Bull‘s Horn Food and Drink, local restaurant in 4563 South 34th Avenue, has been supporting our work in several ways. We asked Amy Greeley, owner, about her perspective on how and why they support our work. Se below what she answered.

Why is Bull‘s Horn supporting the Du Nord Foundation Community Market?

Bull's Horn has always had a focus on giving back to the community. We often support neighborhood schools and community groups with gift cards and prizes for auctions and events. However, since we are in the food industry we have also focused on how to provide food to the community and wanted to do that in a long-term sustainable way. Previously we worked with St. Stephen's Human Services on cooking one meal a month for one of their shelters. When George Floyd was murdered their needs changed so we stopped providing meals and at the same Du Nord was taking a leadership role in the community around organizing to address community needs. We started following the work and supported where possible. Once the Du Nord Foundation Community Market opened it was a no brainer to offer regular support which I believe can be an issue for community markets like this. At first, I reached out to two other businesses, Nokomis Tattoo and Grande Sunrise Restaurant who are both on 34th Avenue like us, to contribute as well. I wanted to be sure we could manage the donation at that uncertain time for businesses. That lasted quite a bit but they went on to support other endeavors and my husband and I continued going to Cub once a month to purchase provisions based on the needs set by the Market and then drop it off.

Why is this work important to you?

This work is important because none of us operate in a vacuum. We all need support and it's important to create easy to access avenues for that support. The trauma after George Floyd's murder, the pandemic, and then the economic changes stemming from that have impacted us all but in particular BIPOC communities. Du Nord recognizes that and works to address those issues within the Market.

What is your message to other businesses/organizations to join the efforts?

I think all businesses can incorporate giving into their work. Choose something important to you that you can do once a month and set a dollar amount. Don't worry if it seems small at first, every little bit helps! And I believe sustainability is important to the non-profit so make it an amount you can keep up for at least a year. We started by setting a limit at around $200 a month but with the support of the other two businesses we were able to purchase $300 worth of items. Then we took over their amounts and now with inflation are covering a little more. Create a plan to get it done. Who is going to do it? When? Then put it on the calendar. Make it part of the work you do and talk about it with staff. Our staff appreciate that we are thinking about these things and have helped with the work. Sometimes it may seem like there's no time to do it but every time we do it we know it was the right thing to do.

We really appreciate your support Bull‘s Horn :)