RPTV WEEKLY NEWS (EP79) - Regent Park Café Extends Operations

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 RPTV Weekly News Show Episode 79 (April 23rd to April 29th) - in this weekly news show hosted by RPTV reporters Lawrence Rodriguez, Fred Alvarado, and Kedar Ahmed, we present news that impacts Toronto's Regent Park and the surrounding areas. In this episode, we present the following news:

0:00 intro;

01:00 Report of the Regent Park Social Development Plan Stakeholders Table meeting on April 25th;

17:59 Councillor Moise Addresses Regent Park SDP's Future;

21:23 Regent Park Café Extends Operations;

28:00 Regent Park Joins Toronto's Spring Cleanup: Rain or Shine;

29:14 MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam Advocates 'Build Homes for People, Not Profit' Amid Housing Crisis;

36:30 Events and Jobs in the Community.

This weeks lead Story:

The Regent Park Café, situated within Daniels Spectrum, extends its operations for three more months, following a successful launch earlier this year. Since opening in February 2024, it has provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner featuring 5 local entrepreneurs: Garcia Eats, SR Home Foods, Ceylon Chai, Edible Bliss, and BK Catering.

Funded by the Economic Development Working Group of the Regent Park Social Development Plan, the cafe exemplifies the community's commitment to increasing sustainable employment. Sales have been impressive, with February reaching $3,000, March $4,500, and April $4,000.

In a recent interview with Ines Garcia, owner of Garcia Eats, one of the entrepreneur members of the Café pop-up project offering Ecuadorian empanadas stated, "I know that Gail and Ismail of the Employment and Economic Development table, have been talking to Farid from Arts Hubs about the
extension, they gave us one more month of extension until the end of May and later they’ll talk to go further. Hopefully, the Café will go all year round, for me is great because I’m here all the time. All the clients have been wonderful with me, they’ve been very supportive. I interact with everybody, I talk to
them about my empanadas, and they read my little bio that is in the frame. For me, it’s being wonderful. I don’t know what the future holds, hopefully, they come to an agreement to go forward with the café which has been a success because I’m a people person, I’m outgoing, I promote myself so for me it’s
being very well,” Ines said.

With the extension secured until the end of May, the Regent Park Café is poised to continue serving the community and fostering a welcoming space for all.

By Fred Alvarado
Fred is a community journalist with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

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