Comfort Cafe closes temporarily -- and issues a plea for volunteers

You could, we suppose, say that the writing was on the wall. The Comfort Cafe, a donation-based, non-profit community kitchen and restaurant in Berkeley Park, whose philosophy is pay-what-you-can-afford, recently posted a note on its Facebook wall, pleading for volunteers:

We are dependent on our wonderful volunteers in order to continue serving the community...We are in great need of volunteers to take 4-hour shifts as prep cooks, servers, dishwashers, cashiers and closers...If you have a different skill you can offer our non-profit cafe, we would love to hear from you. The Cafe needs people with skills other than kitchen and serving skills. We need help in so many areas.

A hand-written sign, posted on the front door of the Comfort Cafe, echos those same sentiments: "The Comfort Cafe is in a 'tender' place right now as regards [to] human and financial resources," it reads, in part. The remainder of the note alerts those walking by that the cafe will be closed until Saturday, July 9 so that the staff can "rest and restructure a bit."

Clearly the not-for-profit could use some assistance when it reopens -- and in the future. If you'd like to volunteer, you can fill out a short questionnaire on the cafe's website about your interests and availability.