Casually garbed in a T-shirt, cargo pants, bucket hat and orange crocks, Vince Withers gives off an easy-going vibe as he strolls through his laid-back High Street restaurant, Café Bella.
But he was frustrated. He knew he wanted to create peaceful devices, things that would help people. He had hoped that the company would shift from military equipment to medical technology. When that didn't happen, he started doing some soul-searching - or, as he puts it, "I started having illusions of working towards something other than a common goal."
That something else was closer than he had realized. Café Bella, at 2593 N. High St., had been a place Withers would visit with his friends for the occasional dinner party. Sometimes he would come alone or with his dog and just hang out with the owner, Carlo, and his dog. While the dogs played, Withers and Carlo got to talking. One day the conversation took an interesting turn.
"The restaurant has been pissing me off. I'm tired of it," Carlo said.
"My job has been pissing me off too. I'm tired of it," Withers replied.
A year and a half later, the restaurant had changed hands, and both men were the happier for it. Now, instead of figuring out how many fasteners and screws to order for a project to assure the least amount of waste, he was figuring out the waste of the food count, the number of forks he needed, deposits and credit card machines, and all the other ins and outs of running a restaurant.
After several months of trial and error, things picked up, and continue to do so. Customers of Café Bella are drawn in by the food, of course, but the atmosphere is like nowhere else in town. If Withers is not up front in the kitchen to greet customers, chances are he is hanging onto some ladder in the back, working on his garden. He creates dishes out of what he has, and what he has is always fresh.
He even spent time in Cambodia and Thailand at the end of last year to study gardens.
Shortly after his return from Asia, Withers met Sabra Howell, an AmeriCorps Vista worker. They met when Howell was in Café Bella for lunch.
"Vince came up to me and asked me who I was and what I did, so I told him about my pantry," Howell said.
Howell helps run the SDA Food Choice Food Pantry on 18th and Oakland avenues. She and Withers first met in December, and by February things for their project were under way. On Feb. 28, Café Bella hosted "The Giving Garden Gala," an event to help raise money to start Withers' garden, a garden that would also provide plants for the 85 families that visit the food pantry.
Once a week, Withers brings three to five plants to the families that visit the pantry, so they can grow the plants in their houses. Withers helps educate these families on the proper way to raise the food they will be eating.
"The people that come to us are going through financial difficulties and this is a change that makes them more empowered to help themselves," Howell said.
Some of the families have their plants potted and sitting on windowsills, and others are starting their own gardens into which they will transplant the plants, she said.
In several weeks, the pantry and Withers will host a "dirt drop" in the parking lot of the pantry, where families can come fill cups and pots with dirt and begin to plant their own seeds. The project is about empowering people.
"They love that someone cares enough to teach them and bring them plants," Howell said. "Vince is a very interesting guy, his approach to business, life and community are interesting and you don't see a lot of it. I wanted to support it anyway I could."
After years of work that didn't satisfy him, Withers says he has found that "something else," something to help people through his restaurant and garden.
"I've heard him say numerous times that he loves his job, and I believe it," said Beau Walker, a longtime friend of Withers.
Kimberly Snodgrass can be reached at snodgrass.332@osu.edu.
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