There was a woman who loved to cook. Her family was gone and she lived alone, so she cooked food and took it to a homeless shelter. The food was much appreciated. Then a new manager was appointed at the shelter and her food was no longer welcome. It had not been prepared in an Approved Kitchen.
This irritated the gifted cook. Here she was with good food to give away, and there they were - the hungry people - what was the problem? The problem, according to the manager, was that poor and hungry people deserve the same food standards as anyone else.
``My kitchen is very clean,'' the woman said. The manager shrugged and turned away.
The woman started cruising the restaurant area of town looking for dumpster divers. She set out packing cases with white paper cloths, and she loaded the ``tables'' with her good food. The hungry people were delighted. At first they would raid the tables and take all they could, but when they realized the food was there every night and no prayer required, they stopped worrying. Only on the coldest, stormiest nights was the alfresco dining suspended.
After a few weeks there was a change in clientele. First it was cops who wandered by. Then newspaper people and taxi drivers, and brokers who liked to be in their offices when the market opened in New York, even though they had terminals by their beds.
A young politician even tried to make a reservation for Tuesday which was tamale night.
As the woman looked at her more and more prosperous customers and she thought of her dwindling reserves, it occurred to her that she should charge those who could pay, but she suspected that if she did, her operation would be raided and closed down in a minute.
So she asked for donations. A woman living on nothing but Social Security gave her five dollars. A software writer worth millions gave her a buck.
In a few months she had enough money to start a restaurant called The Dumpster Diver Cafe. The kitchens were Approved and Certified and inspected on a regular basis. Her hours were 10pm to 4am and she did quite well.
Well enough to donate a whole lot of food to the homeless shelters.