Today we’d like to introduce you to Kari Olsen.
Hi Kari, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I had majored in French in college, and when my plans to use my degree didn’t pan out right away, I moved back home and got a job at a restaurant as a prep cook. Turns out this was one of the best decisions I could have made! I loved cooking for people. After two years at the restaurant, I went to volunteer in the kitchen at Holden Villlage – a remote Lutheran retreat center in the Cascade mountains of Washington State.
Before long, I became one of the Kitchen Coordinators, and was leading the kitchen operations. While there, I felt a pull towards ministry, knowing that I wanted to continue using my kitchen skills. I applied to seminary and entered the track to become a Deacon in the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). I ended up at an internship site in St. Paul, MN, where I got to volunteer with many different food ministries – including Shobi’s Table, when it was a food truck church. When I graduated, an opportunity came to reinvent Shobi’s Table as a pay-as-you-can cafe, and I was thrilled and humbled to take it on as the director.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it hasn’t always been a smooth road, but it’s been a good road! Before I started with Shobi’s Table, I used to tell people that I never saw myself as someone who would start something new, which is how it felt to turn Shobi’s Table into a pay-as-you-can cafe. My biggest challenges have been learning how I best embody being a leader, especially learning to trust that it is not all on me, but that there is a community around me and this ministry that want it to thrive. I believe most that God is behind it all, and Shobi’s Table will always do better when I learn to trust that God is working through the beautiful community of volunteers, customers, staff and leadership together.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Shobi’s Table?
Shobi’s Table is a pay-as-you-can mobile cafe. Our goal is to provide a dignified experience and delicious meals to anyone and everyone who comes to the food truck, no matter what they can pay. We create a new nutritious, from-scratch menu each week. A delivery of rescued groceries from Twin Cities Food Justice comes every week and we make things like wrap sandwiches, salads, soups, hand pies, and a variety of desserts. (Some favorites have been our burritos with creamy hot sauce, lasagna, tomato soup, shepherd’s hand pies, our house made pickles, and chocolate chip cookies!) The food truck is parked by the Capitol on Tuesdays, in Frogtown on Thursdays and in the Midway on Fridays. We choose to be in the same locations each week so that everyone, especially those without internet access, know where and when to reliably find us. Our mission is to create a space where all can be fed and nourished in body and soul, sharing the same meal across boundaries – where God’s love is made edible. If you want to support us, come join us for lunch at the truck! Or, you can also request us for our catering program where every dollar spent goes towards meals for those who can’t pay at our weekly locations.
Any big plans?
This past year we added a third serving day, and we’d love to add a fourth. In order to do so, we’ll need to prepare to hire another staff member and do some discernment around where we could be of most use. Most of all, we need more people to know about us and donate so that we can live into the vision of adding a fourth day, and even a fifth! We’re excited about the growth of the Shobi’s Table community.
Contact Info:
- Email: shobistable@gmail.com
- Website: shobistable.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/shobistable/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/shobistableelca
- Twitter: @ShobisTable
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyDmGQkjtnw7NFQqsI3KgrQ
Image Credits
Kari Olsen
Daniele Maeder
Lindsey Scheid
