Café Served opened in Pacific Fair in December 2023 with a unique business model. All profits from the café are used to support the charity Serving Our People Inc. (SOP).
Founding SOP in 2020, Yas Matbouly tells us that his initial motivation was to help elderly people who were struggling during the pandemic. The organisation has grown from there to be Australia’s fastest growing charity.
Its goals have also broadened to help anyone in need, developing into a delivery, logistics and emergency need organisation.
What is unique about SOP is its complementary logistics and delivery model. Using people from their large bank of volunteers, SOP will pick up anything for anyone in need: groceries, medicine, baby formula, furniture and more, providing food stability and comfort. Where possible they use donated or recycled goods from their free supermarket or warehouse. However, if these are not available, SOP buy goods to meet the demand.
Put simply, SOP is like ‘Uber Eats’ for everyone and everything; a conduit between donations and the person in need covering the whole process.
This process is facilitated by the two arms of their organisation: Delivery & Logistics (which includes getting food and goods from the donator to people in need) and Fundraising initiatives (which include two Café Served in Mermaid Beach and Pacific Fair, bottled water sold for profit, toy drives, Christmas gift wrapping services and donations), all of which provide funds to enable the organisation to reach its goals.
In three years, SOP has expanded, reaching many major milestones. They bought their first van, achieved DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient) status as a charity, provided Christmas lunch to the homeless for three years in a row, opened three People’s Markets (free supermarkets in Brisbane and the Gold Coast which provide staple non-perishable items free to the needy), and two Café Served (not-for-profit cafés at Mermaid Beach and Pacific Fair).
Presently, SOP has over 100 people volunteering every week to help over 2,000 people weekly, with numbers growing.
Striving to better their programs and put people at the forefront of their charity, Yas tells us that there’s plenty that we can do to help SOP ‘to deliver to anyone, at any time, in any place’. Bring food, essential grocery items and toys to one of their supermarkets, volunteer your time to help with Christmas gift wrapping, choose to buy coffee, water and food at a SERVED café, or jump online and donate funds. After all, every little bit helps.
Café Served & People’s Market: 2582-2584 Gold Coast Highway, Mermaid Beach (entrance via 4-6 Seaview Avenue); Pacific Fair Shopping Centre (opposite H & M) operated by Serving Our People Inc.
Open: Mon – Wed & Sat 7am – 5:30pm, Thurs 7am – 8pm, and Sun 7am – 5pm.