Move over, dusty bookshelves — Toledo’s Main Library is now the city’s tastiest spot for community connection. Nestled among the stacks, a first-of-its-kind café is flipping the script on hunger relief, blending fresh meals with fresh opportunities to give back.
Welcome to SAME Café, where pizza, soup, and salads come with a side of dignity and a bit of hope. The nonprofit café, which opens next week, is the second location of a 16-year-old Denver concept built on a simple idea: everyone deserves a seat at the table, regardless of their wallet.
The SAME Cafe’s donation guidelines. Photo from CBS news
“At the core of SAME is the ability to make a choice,” Cory Wolin, executive director, said. “The participation-based model allows individuals to choose how they would like to participate at the café.” That could mean volunteering time, donating homegrown veggies, or paying what feels right. Even a dollar counts.
Patrons can swap 30 minutes of volunteer work — like prepping veggies or rolling silverware — for a meal, or contribute cash, crops, or kindness. “It’s recognizing the inherent value in an individual outside of something that’s just monetary,” Wolin said. The ever-changing menu, crafted with local farms, features two soups, two salads, and two pizzas daily.
You get to come in and experience a delicious healthy meal and contribute to whatever you find most meaningful,” he said.
For the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, the café is a natural fit. “We’re excited to invite people into our space,” Jason Kucsma, the library’s executive director, said. “The library is always a place where people can come and enrich their lives, and SAME Café is the same model for food.” The partnership transforms the library into a hunger-fighting hub, where lattes meet literacy.
The café’s roots run deep. Founded in Denver by Libby and Brad Birky, SAME Café inspired Brad Reubendale, its former CEO, to bring the model to Toledo after his own life took an unexpected turn. After losing his job and living out of his car, Reubendale found solace at the original SAME Café. “I’d quietly put a dollar in because I didn’t want to have to tell my trauma to be able to get access to the resource,” he said. Now, he’s paying it forward.
The SAME Cafe. Photo from CBS news
In Toledo, roughly a third of customers volunteer, while others donate funds or garden-grown goods. “Every type of person comes — families, business folks, folks needing resources,” regular Rori Quinonez said. “It really is a community hub.”
For Reubendale, dignity is the main ingredient. “We don’t wanna have someone greeting at the door saying, ‘Tell me about your story, do you deserve this?’” he said. “It’s about dignity, not just the food.” His philosophy? Empowerment over charity. “The only way that people get help is when they help themselves.”
