March 2011 Recap

Our second Provision was Sunday, March 27. Many, many thanks to all the folks who came out and helped – by proposing, volunteering, voting, and of course by eating.

March stats:

NUMBERS: Food
We fed 75-80 people, including volunteers.

NUMBERS: Money
We spent about $175 on the meal and around $100 on other event-related items. As always, we got as much food and other things donated as we could, and will continue to seek donations for future events.
We collected $533 via PayPal (RSVPs), an additional $190 at the door, and $175 for a la carte beverages.
We awarded $500 to Rebecca Noon, Jed Hancock-Brainerd, Aram Aghazarian, and Roblin Gray-Davis’s proposal (see proposal info in the menu below).
We used the balance of the door and beverage monies to cover the event costs and chip away at our initial start-up costs (over $800). Once these costs are recouped, we will only reimburse ourselves for what we spend on food and any other small incidentals necessary to make the meal happen; the rest will go to the selected project.

VOTING PROCESS
Voting was based on a tiered system: Diners nominated their first, second, and third choice proposals. First place = 3 points, second place = 2 points, third place = 1 point. Most overall points won.

MENU/PROPOSALS
Download March’s menu! ProvisionMenu: March 2011

Proposals are within. Please note our full special thanks list:

Backstage/waiter folks Simcha Davis, Julia Bea Moreno, Dana Heng, Shirla Auguste, Lena Sawyer, Daniela Aramayo, Devon Anderson, George Olken, Stewart Wagner, John Demetrick, and Ben Gilberg; food prep friends Jed Hancock-Brainerd, Rebecca Noon, Ben Gilberg, and Max Zhang; food donators Fertile Underground (squash); and cooks Craig O’Connor (foccacia and rustic breads), Ian Cozzens (honey whole wheat bread), Carl Hasse (root beer/root beer floats), and once again, your friends and ours, Ben Gilberg (squash soup) and Giorgio Stewmari (cookies). Also thanks to Dylan Block-Harley for the lovely end-of-evening music.

OTHER DETAILS

We are, as always, seeking feedback from dinner guests and proposers about their experiences at Provision. If you have thoughts, contact us at providenceprovision [at] gmail [dot] com.

See photos from Sunday here, and read Rebecca Noon’s blog post about her experience at Provision here!

Reservations for March Provision

RSVP online now for March 27! See you soon!

February 2011 Recap

Our first Provision was this past Sunday, February 20. Many, many thanks to all the folks who came out and helped – by proposing, volunteering, voting, and of course by eating.

Some stats:

NUMBERS: Food
We fed 65-70 people including volunteers.

NUMBERS: Money
We spent about $180 on the meal (not including beverages) and over $600 getting the project going (on things ranging from dishes to business cards). We got as much food and other things donated as we could, and will continue to seek donations for future events.
We collected $437 at the door and $140 for a la carte beverages.
We awarded $375 to Fertile Underground’s proposal (see proposal info below).
We are applied for a grant to cover our start-up costs but if it is not funded we will continue to take a tiny cut from the door and all beverage funds to gradually cover our initial costs. Once these costs are recouped, we will only reimburse ourselves for what we spend on food and any other small incidentals that are necessary to make the meal happen; the rest will go to the selected project.

VOTING PROCESS
Voting was based on a tiered system: Diners nominate their first, second, and third choice proposals. First place = 3 points, second place = 2 points, third place = 1 point. Most overall points wins.

MENU/PROPOSALS
Download February’s menu! Proposals are within. Please note additional (unlisted!) special thanks: Simcha Davis, Montana Blanco, SueEllen Kroll, Scott Lapham, Christina DiChiera, Noah Block-Harley, Raffe Cataldo-Sputamachie, and Christine Cataldo-Sputamatchie. Provision Menu: Feb 2011

If you would like to get in touch with any of the propose-ers to find out more about their projects, and especially if you would like to support them (financially or otherwise), here’s some contact info we should have included in the menu:

Ospreys #16 “Obscure Finale” Print Collection
Tom Bubul
tom.bubul [at] gmail [dot] com

Generation Citizen: Social Justice and Activism Afterschool Program
Molly Mills
www.generationcitizen.org
molly [at] generationcitizen [dot] org

Negative Press Publications 001: (still untitled) vol. 01
negative.press.publications [at] gmail [dot] com

Tasty Prints Promote Fertile Underground Grocery
fertileunderground.com
fertileunderground [at] gmail [dot] com

Cupcake Cart
evagoodman [at] hotmail [dot] com

16mm Film: The Root That Ate Roger Williams
www.aleepeoples.com
aleemichelle [at] hotmail [dot] com

OTHER DETAILS
We are seeking feedback from all dinner guests and proposers about their experiences from this month! If you didn’t get our email and have thoughts, get in touch ASAP at providenceprovision [at] gmail [dot] com.

COMING UP
Final details (location, date, some other revisions around how the evening is structured) for March’s Provision TBA – stay tuned.

And finally, check out Molly Mills’s blog post about her experience and see photos from Sunday here!

Reservations for February Provision

The RSVP list is now full! We are saving some seats for folks who were unable to RSVP – first-come, first-served.

Doors will open at 5:30PM at 186 Carpenter St, Providence, RI 02903. We’re so happy to see how much interest there is in this event and may be able to host in a bigger space next month. For now, show up early if you don’t have a reservation!

Welcome to Provision

Visit the links above to learn what Provision is, why it’s happening, and how to participate.

Proposals for the February 20 Provision are due Saturday, February 12 to providenceprovision [at] gmail [dot] com.