Surprise! Raleigh nonprofit gets $100,000 on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show'
A Raleigh-based nonprofit on Friday was gifted $100,000 when the owner made her second appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show."
Maggie Kane opened A Place at the Table, Raleigh's first pay-what-you-can café, at 300 W Hargett St. in January 2018.
Kane joined Kelly Clarkson on the show in January 2023 as one of the show’s “Good Neighbor of the Year” honorees and came home with a $10,000 donation.
On Friday, the restaurant got another big boost – this time it was a $100,000 gift made possible by Wing Drone Delivery.
WRAL anchor Michelle Mackonochie waited at A Place at the Table in downtown Raleigh with café friends and supporters when the big surprise announcement was made.
Kane spoke about her restaurant's mission earlier this year. The café serves a hot meal and drink to anyone and everyone, regardless of how much money they have to spend.
Kane's goal was to create a open environment free of judgment.
"We had to create a place where everyone has choice and everyone feels seen," Kane told Clarkson during her appearance on the show.
Kane said her café serves sometimes hundreds of people a day. The $100,000 gift will be used in part to open a food truck in 2024.
A Place at the Table has a laid-back coffee shop atmosphere with a menu that includes buttermilk biscuits with sage sausage gravy and an assortment of sandwiches and waffles. All food and beverages are pay-what-you-can.
The pay-what-you-can model allows people to pay in a variety of ways:
- Pay the suggested price
- Pay at least $3 for your meal
- Pay using a PLACE Card
- Pay by volunteering at least an hour
The nonprofit's pay-what-you-can approach for food and drink is based on a model by the One World Every Body Eats Foundation. There are more than 60 cafes operating with this approach.
In another attempt to help her community, Kane will participate this weekend in the Oakwood24, a 24-hour walk/run at at Historic Oakwood Cemetery to raise money for Healing Transitions.
"Addiction touches all of us," Kane said. "We all have a friend, family, someone in our life, our ourselves. Being out here it just breaks down walls, we're all in this together."
