Matthew 25

Farm Stand Market
2025-05-29 16:00 - 19:00, 2025-05-22 16:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, 437 G Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
At our Farm Stand, we provide fresh, locally-grown produce from the Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, grown without pesticides or herbicides in the heart of Cedar Rapids. Our CSA members will be picking up their weekly produce, plus we’ll have other items available for sale. If you want to stay up on what we have for sale each week, join our email list here.
Farm Stand Markets are held from 4-7 pm every Thursday from May 22 – October 2 at the Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, 437 G Ave. NW.
Cash or card is accepted. See you at the farm!

Cultivate Hope Mega Market
2025-05-29 16:00 - 19:00 | Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, 437 G Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
The Cultivate Hope Mega Market is a celebration of food, music, activities, and community at the Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, located at 437 G Ave. NW. We feature our locally-grown produce, the brick oven is blazing as we create pizzas for you, your family, and your friends to enjoy in our beautiful setting. In 2025, each Mega Market will have a special theme surrounding activities, food and fun. Mark your calendars. We hope to see you all there! Come out and enjoy!

This year’s Mega Markets are held from 4-7 pm on the last Thursday of the month from May-September.
This year’s dates with their special themes are:
May 29 – Bloom
June 26 – Garden Party
July 31 – Midsummer Night’s Dream
August 28 – Tomato Time
September 25 – Harvest Festival

Storytellers of Cedar Rapids
2025-05-07 07:30 - 21:30 | Groundswell Cafe, 201 Third Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Matthew 25 proudly presents Storytellers of Cedar Rapids, a carefully curated series of performances featuring local storytellers, open mic slots, and live music.
The fourth and final show of our inaugural season will take place on Wednesday, May 7th at 7:30 p.m. The theme for the evening will be “Who Are You?” The community storytellers will perform at Cedar Rapids’ Groundswell Cafe, located at 201 3rd AVE SW. Groundswell refreshments will be available! The event will be hosted by renowned local artist Akwi Nji.
The curated storytellers will include Lovar Davis Kidd, David Tominsky, Edith Chase & Jean Kirby
Our Musical Guest for the evening is the talented Iowa singer-songwriter Chad Elliott.
The May 7 show is officially sold out! Please be sure to check back for future Storytellers of Cedar Rapids shows!
All ticket transactions are final and non-refundable. We sincerely appreciate your understanding and support.
This event is supported by the James and Doris LeCompte Endowment Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which is part of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. If you are interested in supporting future Storytellers of Cedar Rapids events, please contact us!

Community Building Potluck
2025-05-06 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-04-01 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-03-04 17:00 - 18:30 | Groundswell Cafe, 201 Third Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Join Us for Matthew 25’s Community Building Potlucks!
We’re excited to announce a new way to connect with neighbors and build a stronger community—Matthew 25’s Community Building Potlucks, happening every first Tuesday of the month!
Bring a dish to share and enjoy a warm, welcoming atmosphere filled with great food and meaningful conversations. Whether you’re looking to make new friends, strengthen community ties, or simply enjoy a delicious meal, this is the perfect opportunity.
📅 When: First Tuesday of every month
📍 Where: Matthew 25
🍽 What to Bring: A dish to share (if you can!) See what others are bringing and sign up to bring a special dish here.
All are welcome—come as you are and bring a friend! Let’s share food, stories, and connections that strengthen our community. For more details, visit call 319-362-2214.

Cultivate Hope Spring Plant Sale
2025-05-03 10:00 - 13:00 | Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, 437 G Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Join us at the Cultivate Hope Urban Farm on Saturday, May 3, from 10 am – 1 pm to get a jump start on the growing season with tons of locally grown plants. We will have annual and perennial flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables for sale. All proceeds go to support the Urban Farm.
The Matthew 25 Tool Library will also be selling tools at this event!
Please mark your calendars and plan to attend! Matthew 25’s Cultivate Hope Urban Farm is located at 437 G Ave NW in Cedar Rapids.

Spring Celebration
2025-04-29 16:00 - 18:30 | Groundswell Cafe, 201 Third Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Spring is a time to celebrate!
Come join us for the Matthew 25 Spring Celebration, where we extend our gratitude to YOU – our incredible volunteers, donors, and supporters!
Matthew 25’s Spring Celebration is on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, from 4:00 – 6:30 PM. This open-house-style event is a wonderful opportunity to connect with others, enjoy delicious small bites and beverages, and get a hands-on look at our programs while seeing behind the scenes. A brief program at 5:15 PM will highlight the incredible impact of the volunteers, organizations, and churches that support Matthew 25 year-round.
Everyone is welcome at Groundswell Event Space, 201 Third Ave SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.
Missed the RSVP? No problem! You’re still welcome to join us—just check in at the welcome table when you arrive

Cooking for a Cause – April 24
2025-04-24 17:30 - 19:30 | Groundswell Cafe, 201 Third Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Cooking for a Cause: Italian Night with Chef Craig
📅 Date: APRIL 24⏰ Time: 5:30 – 7:30 PM📍 Location: Groundswell – 201 3rd AVE SW, Cedar Rapids
Join us for Cooking for a Cause, a hands-on cooking class with Chef Craig, where you’ll learn to prepare a delicious Italian dinner while also giving back! As we cook together, we’ll be making extra meals to support our Good Meals To Go program at the Cultivate Hope Corner Store.
April’s Menu:
🍝 Homemade Pasta🍅 Red Sauce🧄 Garlic Bread🍮 Maybe even a dessert!
This class is perfect for beginners but does involve some knife work, so we recommend it for ages 18 and up.
💲 Cost: $25 per person (includes:)✅ Guided instruction + take-home recipe card✅ One meal per attendee✅ Your fee helps cover the food cost of the meals that will go to the Cultivate Hope Corner Store!
Spots are limited—sign up today!
Questions? Contact us or give us a call at 319-200-2791.

Nutrition Night
2025-03-12 16:00 - 18:00 | Cultivate Hope Corner Store, 604 Ellis Blvd. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52405, United States
We’re excited to introduce Nutrition Nights, a new quarterly event designed to educate and inspire our community with fresh, healthy, and delicious food! Each event will feature interactive stations, recipe demonstrations, food samples, and seasonal produce education—all in a fun, open-house format.
Kickoff Event: Citrus Night 🍊
📅 March 12, 2025 | 🕓 4–6 PM | 📍 Cultivate Hope Corner Store
Join us for our first Nutrition Night as we celebrate the bright and zesty world of citrus! Try citrus-based recipes, take home a meal kit, and explore seasonal produce available in our store.
No registration required—just stop by and enjoy! Stay connected on Facebook and Instagram for updates on future Nutrition Night themes and featured vendors. We can’t wait to see you there!

Storytellers of Cedar Rapids
2025-03-05 07:30 - 21:30 | IA
Matthew 25 proudly presents Storytellers of Cedar Rapids, a curated series of performances featuring local storytellers, open mic slots, and live music.
Wednesday, March 5th at 7:30 PM will be the third show of our series, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to share the news with you. Cedar Rapids’ Groundswell Cafe, 201 3rd AVE SW, will be the site of this community storyteller’s performance. The event will be hosted by the acclaimed local artist Akwi Nji.
The curated storytellers include Matthew Arndt, Emmy Ball, and Abby Long-Williams.
Live musical guest for this event is James Tutson!
Tickets to this show are officially SOLD OUT. Please note that all ticket sales are final and non-refundable. We appreciate your understanding and support. We will have tickets to our May 7th show available soon!
Support for these events is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Restaurant Week
2025-02-21 07:00 - 2025-03-01 14:00 | Groundswell Cafe, 201 Third Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
We are SUPER excited to be one of the 2025 Cedar Rapids Restaurant Week participants! Enjoy our tasty Restaurant Week specials February 21st – March 1, 2025.
Details on what items and specials we will be featuring that week will be coming soon!
Please join us at 201 3rd AVE SW during our open hours: Monday-Saturday, 7:00 AM – 2:PM.

Cultivate Hope Holiday Craft Fair
2024-12-07 09:00 - 12:00 | Groundswell Cafe, 201 Third Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Join us from 9 am-12 pm on Saturday, Dec. 7 for our Cultivate Hope Holiday Craft Fair at Groundswell, 201 Third Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids.
This year’s Holiday Craft Fair will feature local craft vendors, carrot pickles and baked goods from the Youth Development Program, produce from our Urban Farm, a photo booth, crafts and activities, Cedar Rapids Community Orchestra Concert, and more.
Our Groundswell Cafe, located directly next to the event space, will have delicious food and beverage specials as well.
Confirmed vendors include:
✨Cultivate Hope
✨ Boho Fluid Art
✨Cabyn Fever
✨Jane Bell
✨Karen Stirler
✨Stitch In Time
✨ Edith Chase Labyrinth Art
✨Scrap Dragon Designs
✨Dixie Fried Jewelry Co
✨Lola Jane Jewelry
✨Crafty Couple
If you are interested in volunteering to help at this event, or are interested in becoming a vendor, please contact kendal@matthew-25.org

Storytellers of Cedar Rapids
2024-11-06 19:30 - 21:30 | Groundswell Cafe, 201 Third Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Matthew 25 proudly presents Storytellers of Cedar Rapids, a curated series of performances featuring five local storytellers, three open mic slots, and live music. The event will be hosted by the acclaimed local artist Akwi Nji. We are excited to announce that the 2nd show in this series will be Wednesday, November 6th at 7:30 PM. The venue for the event is Groundswell Cafe in Cedar Rapids, located at 201 3rd AVE SW. Additional performances in this series are planned for Spring 2025.
Storytellers for this November 6th performance include Tim Boyle, Tony Chapman, Juan Gomez and Sara Todd.
The musical guest for the night will be Blake Shaw! Blake is a local double bassist, composer/arranger, and teacher.
Doors open at 7:00 pm, and the show starts at 7:30 pm. Tickets are SOLD OUT for this event. Please note that all ticket sales are final and non-refundable. We appreciate your understanding and support.
Support for these events is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Groundswell’s 6th Birthday Celebration
2024-10-12 07:00 - 14:00, 2024-10-11 07:00 - 14:00, 2024-10-10 07:00 - 14:00, 2024-10-09 07:00 - 14:00, 2024-10-08 07:00 - 14:00, 2024-10-07 07:00 - 14:00 | Groundswell Cafe, 201 Third Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Groundswell is celebrating its 6th birthday, and we want YOU to join us!
During the week of October 7-12, Groundswell Cafe is celebrating the birthday with free pumpkin birthday cake, festive decorations, and a flatbread pizza special!
Breakfast, lunch, or both would be great to have you celebrate with us!

Gardening Workshops
2024-09-12 17:00 - 19:00, 2024-08-08 17:30 - 19:00 | Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, 437 G Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
This Gardening Workshop Series consists of six hands-on classes from April-September, held at our Urban Farm near downtown Cedar Rapids. Each monthly session will have small class sizes for maximizing time and individualized attention. During harvests, class participants may take home some of the produce, and the rest will be provided to the Cultivate Hope Corner Store, a small nonprofit grocery store with affordable groceries.
Our monthly workshops are from 5:30-7:00 p.m. on the 2nd Thursday of each month, April-September.
Here is a breakdown of each month’s lesson themes:

April 11 : Garden Preparation
May 9 : Seeding and Planting
June 13 : Crop Management
July 11 : Planning and Preparation
August 8: Soil Management
September 12: Preservation

If you’re interested in attending, you can sign up for just the classes that interest you most, or for all 6 classes to get one free!
SIGN UP FOR CLASSES

Storytellers of Cedar Rapids
2024-09-11 19:30 - 21:00 | Groundswell Cafe, 201 Third Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Matthew 25 proudly presents Storytellers of Cedar Rapids, a curated series of performances featuring five local storytellers, three open mic slots, and live music. The event will be hosted by the acclaimed local artist Akwi Nji.
Storytellers for the inaugural performance are Courtney Ball, Jason Edwards, Eric Gutschmidt, Akwi Nji, and Ruth Morrow. The performance with the theme of “What are you good at?” will take place on Wednesday, September 11th, at Groundswell Cafe, 201 3rd Ave SW, Cedar Rapids. Additional performances in this series are planned for late 2024 and into 2025.
In preparation for the September event, the storytellers are gathering for several weeks in advance to learn how to craft their stories for a live audience. One participant, Eric Gutschmidt, shared his thoughts: “I’ve been interviewed several times, but telling my story on stage is a new thing for me, so I was intrigued when I was invited to participate. I’m enjoying getting to know the other storytellers, and I’m excited to see how this event comes together.”
Iowa’s renowned Blues artist Kevin “B.F.” Burt will also be performing at this inaugural event.
Doors open at 7:00 pm, and the show starts at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and may be purchased in advance below. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the door. Please note that all ticket sales are final and non-refundable. We appreciate your understanding and support.
Support for these events is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Cultivate Hope Mega Market
2024-08-29 16:00 - 19:00 | Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, 437 G Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
The Cultivate Hope Mega Market is a celebration of food, music, activities, and community at the Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, located at 437 G Ave. NW. We feature our locally-grown produce, the brick oven is blazing as we create pizzas for you, your family, and your friends to enjoy in our beautiful setting. In 2024, each Mega Market will have a special theme surrounding activities, food and fun. Mark your calendars. We hope to see you all there!

This year’s Mega Markets are held from 4-7 pm on the last Thursday of the month from May-September.
This year’s dates with their special themes are:
May 30 – Season Kickoff
June 27 – Red, White and Blueberries
July 25 – Summer Celebration
August 29 – Flower Power
September 26 – Harvest Festival

Fridays at the Farm Food Camps
2024-08-16 09:00 - 12:00, 2024-08-09 09:00 - 12:00, 2024-08-02 09:00 - 12:00 | Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, 437 G Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Spend your Fridays at the Farm, learning about growing and making your own food! Come each week, or sign up for just a few. Dates are July 12,19, 26 and August 2,9,16 from 9 am – 12 pm.
We will harvest fruits and veggies for snacks and baking, make pickles and salsa, and explore the ins and outs of growing our own food.
We’ll even try some tie dye with our scraps. There’s lots to learn and explore on the farm, we hope you join us!
These food camps are for those 7-10 years old and is limited to 8 students each Friday. Cost is $25 per Friday/student or $130 for all six Fridays.
If your child would love to attend our camps on Fridays in July and August, click here to complete the registration form. You will then be directed to the checkout to pay for the camp.

Fridays at the Farm Food Camps
2024-08-09 09:00 - 12:00, 2024-08-02 09:00 - 12:00 | Cultivate Hope Urban Farm, 437 G Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404, United States
Spend your Fridays at the Farm in August learning about growing and making your own food! Come each week, or sign up for just a few. Dates are August 1,8, and 15 from 9 am – 12 pm.
We will harvest fruits and veggies for snacks and baking, make pickles and salsa, and explore the ins and outs of growing our own food.
We’ll even try some tie dye with our scraps. There’s lots to learn and explore on the farm, we hope you join us!
These food camps are for those 7-10 years old and is limited to 10 students each Friday. Cost is $30 per Friday.
If your child would love to attend our camps on Fridays in July and August, click here to complete the registration form. You will then be directed to the checkout to pay for the camp.
