Cafe Damascus

14/07/2020

Dear friends,

We have received emails and messages from many of you asking about the possible re-opening of Cafe Damascus and its Sompasaari summer terrace bar, Damascusito.

We are sorry to share that we had to make the difficult decision to permanently close Cafe Damascus and its sister project, Damascusito. As many of you know, we attempted to save the Café from a financial hurdle via a Mesenaatti fundraising campaign. Unfortunately, soon after we started the campaign, COVID-19 spread further, which meant that we had to close during lockdown and donations slowed down. Having not reached our fundraising goal, we were left with no options other than closing permanently.

This means that any project or business using similar names and visuals to ours are not affiliated to Cafe Damascus Oy. We do not currently have any ongoing projects and are focusing on recovering from several months of lockdown and the loss of Cafe Damascus.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you through the years, for all your love and support. We wish you a great summer ahead. Stay safe and happy! ❤️

31/03/2020

Dear friends,

We hope that you are all doing well during these challenging times. We would like to deeply thank you for the abundance of love and support you have given us for the past few weeks. Thanks to you, we feel truly inspired to look forward and positively to the future.

Unfortunately, given this situation that affects so many of us at this moment, we had to sit down and evaluate our options. It is with a heavy heart that we took the difficult decision to terminate our campaign on Mesenaatti. Indeed, because of the current circumstances, closing our doors is, for now, the only option. Those of you who generously contributed to funding our campaign will be receiving a refund to their accounts in the coming days.

We have no hard feelings and we wholeheartedly embrace the decision we’ve had to make. This will give us the space and time to take care of ourselves and our loved ones, and to gather ourselves so that we can continue to work hard towards all that we value.

We’re thinking through ways to keep doing what we love and (re-)create a space with good food and company for you to enjoy, so don’t forget us just yet! For now, we wish you courage, strength and protection and hope to see you very soon. ❤️

21/03/2020

[In English below]

Rakkaat ystavät,

Koronavirusepidemia on vaikuttanut Cafe Damascuksen toimintaan kuten moniin muihinkin paikallisiin pienyrityksiin. Tämän vuoksi olemme jatkaneet käynnissä olevaa Mesenaatti-rahoituskampanjaamme 13.4. asti. Tuettehan tulevaa toimintaamme mahdollisuuksienne mukaan! Tukikampanjaan pääsee tästä linkistä:
https://mesenaatti.me/campaign/?id=1419 /view

Kiitämme sydämiemme pohjasta teitä, jotka olette jo tähän mennessä jakaneet ja tukeneet meitä. ❤️
_______________________________

Dear friends,

The coronavirus epidemic is causing changes to Cafe Damascus' activity as with many other local businesses. In this regard, we have now extended the time for the ongoing campaign in mesenaatti until 13.4.
Until this date, if you can, please take a minute to support our future activity through the following link to our fundraising campaign on mesenaatti:
https://mesenaatti.me/campaign/?id=1419 /view

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your sharing and support thus far. ❤️

18/03/2020

[In English below]

Hei kaikki,

Hallituksen uusimpien koronavirustilanteeseen liittyvien suositusten mukaisesti koko Kalliolan Settlementtitalon toiminta pysähtyy.

Raskain sydämin joudumme ilmoittamaan, että myös Cafe Damascus sulkee väliaikaisesti ovensa, ainakin 13.4. asti. Päätöksemme noudattaa hallituksen, WHO:n ja THL:n toimintasuosituksia COVID-19 -taudin (koronavirus) leviämisen estämiseksi.

Pidämme teitä ajan tasalla tilanteen kehittymisestä. Kaikkein tärkeintä on nyt pitää itsestämme ja toisistamme huolta. Sosiaalisten kontaktien rajoittaminen auttaa hidastamaan tämän taudin leviämistä ja lieventämään epidemian aiheuttamia haittoja.

Toivomme kaikille hyvää vointia ja turvaa ja toivomme näkevämme teidät pian! ❤️
_______________________________

Hello everyone,

Based on the latest guidelines on the coronavirus situation released by the government the operation of the Kalliola Setlement House will be affected as a whole, in addition to the changes already announced.

With a heavy heart we have to inform you that Cafe Damascus will also be temporarily closed
at least until 13.4. This is in accordance with government recommendations and with consideration to the WHO and THL guidelines about COVID-19 (coronavirus). We will keep you updated as the situation changes. Until then, it is crucial that we take care of ourselves and each other, and through social distancing hopefully we can slow down the spread and mitigate the effect of this virus.

We wish you good health and protection and hope to see you soon! ❤️

15/03/2020

Hello everyone,

After having carefully considered the WHO and THL guidelines about COVID-19 (coronavirus), we have decided to close the cafe on Monday 16.03. It is crucial that we take care of ourselves and each other, and through social distancing hopefully we can slow down the spread and mitigate the effect of this virus. We will keep you updated as the situation changes. We wish you good health and protection and will see you soon! ❤️

14/03/2020

Dear all,

For those of you who have trouble funding through the original link, you may also access the mesenaatti campaign through following alternative link:
https://dev-mesenaatti.karolina.io/1419/cafe-damascus-needs-your-help/

Love,
Cafe Damascus ❤️

This fundraiser aims to support Cafe Damascus, a cosy restaurant serving tasty vegan Syrian food in Kalliola Setlementtitalo, to survive a financial hurdle. While the cafe is a popular spot, due to previous mismanagement, it has accumulated debts that it is unable to pay. You can support Cafe Damasc...

13/03/2020

Dear all,

We have been overwhelmed with the abundance of love and support we have received in the past few days. We are happy to share with you the fact that we have been able to, thanks to the influx of support both inside and outside mesenaatti, as well as a payment plan for part of the tax debts, to make the decision to lower our minimum goal and still be able to keep Cafe Damascus' doors open with continuous hard work.

Mesenaatti have also agreed to extend our campaign duration until 23.3 to allow us to reach our goal.

https://mesenaatti.me/campaign/?id=1419 /view

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your sharing and support thus far.

Stay safe ❤

12/03/2020

[In English below]

Hei ystävät,

Iso kiitos kaikesta tuestanne!

Unelmamme on aina ollut luoda tila, jossa eri taustaiset ihmiset voivat tavata saman pöydän ympärillä, Helsingin sydämessä. Auta meitä jatkamaan tätä unelmaa pitämällä Cafe Damascuksen ovet auki. Mesenaatti-kampanjamme on käynnissä vielä 5 päivää – yhdessä kaikki on mahdollista! 🙏❤️

Jos et pysty lahjoittamaan rahaa, voit silti tukea Cafe Damascusta levittämällä sanaa kampanjastamme ja jakamalla tarinaamme.

https://mesenaatti.me/campaign/?id=1419 /view
_______________________________

Thank you all for your support inside and outside mesenaatti! 5 more days to go until the campaign ends. Our dream is to keep contributing towards a space where different cultures, arts and peoples can meet around the same table in the heart of Helsinki. Please help us continue making this dream come true by keeping Cafe Damascus' doors open. With our joined efforts everything is possible 🙏❤️

Cafe Damascus Needs Your Help!

https://mesenaatti.me/campaign/?id=1419 /view

10/03/2020

Hello everyone,

Cafe Damascus needs your help!

After several of our loved ones encouraging us to do so, we are starting this fundraiser hoping that the community in Helsinki will uplift us and all those who love this place, its people and its food. Today, we ask that those of you who share our values and care about the survival of independent local businesses help us continue our journey.

We are so thankful for your support and funding. Every little helps! If you aren’t able to make a funding but still wish to support the cafe, you can still spread the word about our campaign and share our story in your circles and on social media.

Thank you, Kiitos, Shukran, Tack! ❤

This fundraiser aims to support Cafe Damascus, a cosy restaurant serving tasty vegan Syrian food in Kalliola Setlementtitalo, to survive a financial hurdle. While the cafe is a popular spot, due to previous mismanagement, it has accumulated debts that it is unable to pay. You can support Cafe Damasc...

09/03/2020

Maklubeh, Bamieh, Veggie Fajita and more—the amazing lunch menu for this week is ready! For more details, check out the lists below. Welcome home 🏠💕

02/03/2020

Ouzi, Levantine Mujadara, Sanabekh a.k.a Zesty Spinach with chickpeas and more—the amazing lunch menu for this week is ready! For more details, check out the lists below. Welcome home 🏠💕

📣Attention: Please note that on Tuesday 3.3. we will be closed until 15:00 due to interruption in water supply earlier. We will be open again from 15:00 to 19:00. 📣