When visiting a country for the first time, most people, and most celebrities, would not jump into taking on issues of food and hunger, and homelessness.
But Leonardo DiCaprio is not most people.
He is a literal Captain Planet, fiercely tackling climate change and fighting for indigenous rights. This drive to do good is why DiCaprio spent his first visit to Scotland raising funds to help provide beautifully prepared meals to people who are homeless, each served with warmth and dignity at a restaurant called Home.
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Several weeks ago, DiCaprio raised awareness by telling fans they could spend lunch with him in Scotland at Home — a restaurant in Edinburgh with a “pay-it-forward” mentality that encourages customers to buy meals that are beautifully served to people who are homeless each Monday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Home brings together world-class cooking from Maison Bleue, and Social Bite — an expanding sandwich shop now in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen where 25% of employees are people who were previously homeless.
The restaurant also takes a lead from Social Bite. Employees graduates from Social Bite Academy, a four-year paid culinary program that trains some of the city’s most vulnerable people living on the streets. Home is then their place of refuge, security, and employment after completing Social Bite Academy.
"For Leo to choose to highlight this initiative whilst in Scotland is very humbling and we are grateful to him for raising the awareness,” said Josh Littlejohn, co-founder of Social Bite.
The cost of entering to win lunch with DiCaprio was just £5, which encouraged lots of people to sign up. This also meant lots of meals for homeless in Edinburgh, and the funding to keep these sustainable community projects going.
Hundreds gathered to watch DiCaprio as he made his way through Edinburgh before having lunch at Home with Elise Lovell, 45, who won the lunch date competition, according to the BBC.
The restaurant’s motto is “Good food for a good cause,” and today, it’s another good cause that DiCaprio just added to his humanitarian résumé.
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