Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Vigil.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I joined the Navy in 2000 and was stationed in San Diego. I had the honor of serving our country for four years on the Aircraft Carrier USS Constellation. After the Navy, I wanted to pursue a career in radio. I moved to Fresno, CA for two years and worked as an on-air personality for a local station. I met my wife through the station, and she ended up getting a job for Sharp Healthcare in San Diego. We made the move back down to San Diego and have lived in the South Bay since 2006. I moved on from radio and started working as a youth director. While I loved my role, I wasn’t passionate about it. I had an early mid-life crisis and bought a sports car that I couldn’t afford. I had to supplement my income to afford the vehicle. I started working as an overnight valet at the Hard Rock hotel. During that time, I build some amazing relationships with individuals that work in the hospitality industry. While I was supplementing my income, I caught a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how difficult the hospitality industry was. There was a lot of hurt behind the smiles of the amazing customer service that we receive from individuals that work in hospitality.
I moved on from my role in valet and continued in my role as a youth director.
In January of 2019, I began a job search to switch roles. I saw a job on a job board for a city director position with Big Table. There was a tagline that said, “Serving those that serve us.” I was intrigued. My wife and I have always been big foodies. We love to try new places and we appreciate the wonderful experiences we have while going out to eat. When there is room in the budget, we enjoy staying at local hotels for staycations and receiving the amazing customer service of hospitality. When I saw the job for Big Table, to serve the individuals in the places where we spend our leisure time, I thought it would be a dream job, something I could be passionate about. Thankfully I was chosen to be the city director for Big Table. I have had the honor of launching Big Table in San Diego and have served as the city director since the beginning.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When we launched in San Diego, we were brand new, and nobody knew about us. While we were new, we had the privilege of serving 67 individuals in crisis that worked in the hospitality industry. While building a local team, fundraising, and putting on events, it was a difficult challenge but so necessary. In March of 2020, the pandemic hit, and our industry was turned upside down.
Big Table was on the front line of this crisis as the containment measures literally shattered the restaurant and hospitality industry from top to bottom. We immediately increased our Big Table care budget to assist individuals in crisis with $200 to $400 triage grants focused on food security (the immediate need) and housing stability (the biggest bill that, even with eviction deferrals were just going to snowball).
We did this even knowing that much of our regular support from fundraisers and industry partners will be going away in the crisis. We are were projected to lose over $300,000 in 2020 that we had planned on… but this crisis underlined exactly why Big Table exists. So, we took every dollar we were given and put it towards care because our mission is to care for those in crisis in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
The people Big Table has cared for effectively for eleven years – hourly employees working in restaurants and hotels – just went over an unprecedented financial cliff. Overnight their work hours were simply gone as restaurants and hotels closed to limit the virus spread. Most had no way to make up these lost wages and have no safety net.
Even before this national crisis, restaurants and hotels already had the highest concentration of those most in need in the country and the economic impact of this crisis on top of their day-to-day vulnerability was catastrophic.
In 2019, we helped 67 hospitality employees in crisis. Since 2020, we have had the honor to care for over 4800 individuals in San Diego alone.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Our mission: Big Table exists to see the lives of those working in the restaurant and hospitality industry transformed by building community and caring for those who are in crisis, transition, or falling through the cracks.
While we are grateful to care for this amazing industry through immediate support, we focus on relational care.
Our care generally falls into five critical impact areas that directly stabilize those in crisis who make up much of the restaurant and hospitality industry. These are people who fall between the cracks – not able to make enough to survive but making too much to qualify for the critical support services reserved for those already unemployed or homeless.
Priority care recipients are front-line employees in restaurants as well as hotels, resorts, breweries, coffee shops, and casinos. This is where we focus the majority of our monetary, in-kind services and ongoing relational support.
What sets us apart is that potential care recipients must be referred by another person aware of their need – preferably a supervisor or coworker. We will contact the referrer – to verify details and urgency of the request.
We then contact the potential care recipient and take them out for a cup of coffee to hear their story and find out how we provide hope in the midst of the crisis.
This initial care may look like the following – utilities assistance, help with rent or a deposit for housing, connections to a counselor, car repair, diapers or food for a single mom, a bike for work transportation, medical or dental help, or assistance with resume development.
Once the crisis has passed, we continue to walk alongside individuals – offering accountability and encouragement.
One of the other ways that sets us apart is that we have an actual BIG table. It seats 48 people. We host amazing six-seven course chef dinners several times a year. But what makes these dinners truly special is the guest list–those invited work in the industry. Every other day, they serve the rest of us, but for one night, the tables are turned, and we serve them. The community created at these meals leads directly into the care and coaching we do day in and day out to impact those in crisis.
I am most proud of my amazing team, that pours their heart and souls into caring for individuals in crisis. They offer hope in the middle of crisis when it may feel like there is no hope. They carry the weight of the hurt and continue to make our industry loved, known, and cared for… with no strings attached.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
For any individuals just starting out, especially in nonprofits, surround yourselves with individuals that love your mission. Be authentic and transparent in all you do.
One of the biggest challenges in working for a 501c3 is raising financial support. What we are doing is raising money to care for the people no one else will care for who are in crisis. We’d love to be so successful that we would end up out of business, but until those most in need are cared for, we will absolutely do everything we can to care for them and that means people stepping up to give.
Never beg… invite companies and people into the adventure of changing people’s lives… for people who would often never ask for help themselves.
Also, don’t launch something new for the sake of launching. Identify the need and go to where the need is.
Pricing:
- Give a one-time gift:ONE – You see the need. TWO – You like to help immediately. THREE – You know your investment will be well used. https://big-table.com/give/one-time-gift/
- Become a MONTHLY PARTNER-Join the movement! You want to make an ongoing impact – and see your gift change many lives in the coming months. https://big-table.com/monthly-giving/
- Leave a LEGACY GIFT: Consider all the ways you can include Big Table in your planned giving or financial plans for the future. If you choose to leave a legacy with Big Table, you will join the elite group of foundational Big Table champions called The Last Supper Society. https://big-table.com/leave-your-legacy/
Contact Info:
- Website: big-table.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigtable_sd/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigTablePNW/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bigtablevideos
