It's been a big two years for Diandra Phipps and Cory Urquhart's north end vegan eatery enVie: A Vegan Kitchen. After taking their farmers' market based business to the next level and opening a restaurant at 5775 Charles Street, they've added cooking classes, juice cleanses and catering to their roster of offerings—on top of being one of the city's most popular new restaurants, no biggie. The problem is, they're running out of room for all this growing. Luckily, team enVie's secured a sweet space in the same building as the restaurant, which will allow for a prep and catering kitchen and community space, perfect for hosting all of those classes, lectures and events.
It'll be a $60,000 expansion when all is said and done, so enVie is looking for a little bit of support via this Indiegogo campaign. It's a little different than your standard crowdfunding asks though—one-third of the restaurant's $30,000 fundraising goal will be re-directed to help three nearby community organizations that are doing important work for the north end, and the city. So, in helping enVie build a new kitchen, you'll also be helping Hope Blooms, Ark Youth Outreach and Ecology Action Centre build on the inspiring stuff they're working on. It's a cool idea! Check out the video below, and the fundraising page here.