The multifunctional center opened eighteen months ago, in which all kinds of activities are organized to connect the neighborhood. Hundreds of volunteers are now active. “We look for work that the volunteer wants,” explains Setz. An example is the ‘kitchen team’. Every Thursday evening a menu is prepared, which attracts between thirty and sixty people. Today it’s an oven dish that eats the pot. With an amuse-bouche, starter and dessert, it is a very special dinner.
Food connects. “Not only in the district, but also in the city and the region,” Setz thinks. “I hear from the elderly that they like to come here. They still cook for themselves, but they always eat it alone. That is not necessary now.”
People pay for dinner what they can. If you can spare it you pay a little more, if not you pay less. For example, Setz can employ a coordinator who runs the kitchen with ten volunteers.
Everyone can sit down at around 6:00 PM. A regular group from a flat nearby feasts. “The food here is always fantastic”, one lady exults. Her neighbor adds: “We talk and laugh a lot with each other”.
At the beginning of July, another jury member from the Appeltjes van Oranje will come and take a look. Assen Bloeit is one of the ten nominees. At the beginning of October, it will be announced at Noordeinde Palace whether the Asser initiative will win.
“In our heads we have already spent the money ten times,” Setz dreams. “We would like to work in and around the building. But the best thing is if we can double that 25,000 euros with the help of donors, so that this building and this initiative will still be there in twenty years.”