CAZENOVIA — Pewter Spoon Café and Eatery in Cazenovia recently presented a weekend fundraiser to benefit Médecins Sans Frontières (aka Doctors Without Borders).
On Feb. 12 and 13, the business donated 50 percent of all drink sales directly to the international, independent medical humanitarian organization, which is best known for providing medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare.
Located at 87 Albany St., Pewter Spoon is owned by Pat Carmeli and managed by her daughters Ava and Dana.
According to Dana, the café raised $571 for Médecins Sans Frontières through its fundraiser.
“During COVID, we weren’t able to do our weekend fundraisers as we have in the past, but we’re very excited to be able to get back into it and give back to other communities,” said Dana on Feb. 9.
The Carmelis organized their first weekend fundraiser several years ago. Since then, they have raised money for multiple organizations, including Médecins Sans Frontières, UNICEF, and Campaign Zero, a project of the non-profit organization WeTheProtesters.
“The last fundraiser we held was for [Campaign Zero], which was raising money for specific police de-escalation training, [especially] in response to the murder of George Floyd by police officers in the summer of 2020,” said Dana. “We raised $506 that weekend, which was amazing considering we were still completely takeout-only and contactless pickup that summer.”
In 2019, Pewter Spoon raised $527 for the International Rescue Committee, which helps people affected by humanitarian crises—including the climate crisis—to survive, recover and rebuild their lives.
According to Dana, the Carmelis considered a couple of different organizations this year before deciding on Médecins Sans Frontières.
“We settled on [this organization] because of their excellent rating—92.25 rating on charitynavigator.org—and because their work is really tangible,” she said. “They are using the donated money to provide medical supplies and healthcare to people in need around the world. I think people appreciate donating to an organization when they can really see what their money goes towards.”
The Carmelis have strived to make Pewter Spoon a community gathering spot that is focused on more than just coffee and food since day one. However, the family’s activism and dedication to supporting humanitarian work arose long before the café opened its doors.
“Our family lived in Israel for 12 years,” said Dana. “And for the first few years, my mom Pat talks about how blissfully ignorant she was to the world around her. It’s when she started taking a closer look that she started to become aware of the injustices and discrimination against our Palestinian neighbors. By attending frequent demonstrations, it awoke an activist spirit within her, one that derived from the principles of peace and fairness that she was raised with. Running a business demands a lot of time, so when we may not have the time to devote to social justice work, we think it’s important to put our money where our mouth is and donate to organizations doing incredible work.”
To learn more about Pewter Spoon Café and Eatery, visit pewterspooncafe.com.
Learn more about Médecins Sans Frontières at doctorswithoutborders.org.
