ROCHELLE – Employees from Bayer recommended the Kitchen Table at Rochelle receive a $8,500 grant from the Bayer Fund.
Funds from the grant will be used to make improvements to the kitchen and cafe as ever more people come to dine at the cafe.
“Thank you all so much for helping us. We plan to upgrade and add equipment in our kitchen in order to offer additional dining options,” Carolyn Brown, founder of The Kitchen Table said. “This will help place us on the map as a “true” restaurant. With the improvement of additional equipment, we gain the ability to broaden our menu options in hopes of eventually adding additional days of operation along with additional meal options. When we brought this café to life, we added a different approach to dining.”

Last year the Kitchen Table received a Monsanto Fund grant in the amount of $7,500 which was used to buy a walk-in freezer to store frozen foods donated and purchased for upcoming meals. Monsanto was since purchased by Bayer but the grant for serving the community good continues on after the Bayer-Monsanto merger.
“The Bayer Fund mission is to help strengthen the communities where our employees live and work with the primary focus being to help assist families in under-resourced areas,” Sarah Gillam, site lead at the Ashton Bayer soybean manufacturing facility, said. “The Kitchen Table is helping to deliver on our mission by providing alternative dining options for everyone in the community. We are honored to support the Kitchen Table with this Bayer Fund grant.”
In 2019, Bayer Fund awarded more than $1.4 million through this program to nonprofit organizations in rural communities to help address essential needs in Food & Nutrition, STEM Education, and Community Development. Nonprofit organizations across the U.S. have received more than $7 million through this program over the last five years.
“We are here for everyone. This is an alternative dining restaurant that allows diners to ‘be in charge’ of their finances, everyone chooses what to pay and how to pay since you can always volunteer in payment of your meal. Instead of us providing you with a bill, you tell us what you are paying,” Brown said. “Since we opened in June 2016, we encourage community involvement such as volunteering time along with sit and stay a while and make new friends. Community is important as well as getting to know one another and working together for the betterment of our community. It truly takes many hands to make light work. Our community has been very receptive to the idea and continues to support us in many ways. Our volunteers are simply amazing and it couldn’t happen without them. We are grateful for the generous help that Bayer, formerly Monsanto, has given us. Their support is a breath of fresh air. We cannot thank you enough for your help.”