Sydney’s Colombo Social is launching a Sri Lankan High Tea that will help fund meals for children across Sri Lanka’s east coast. The new weekend experience, launching in Sydney on Saturday, July 11, is tied to Harvest2, a new long-term food security, education and sustainable agriculture program from Plate it Forward, Dilmah Tea and the MJF Charitable Foundation. Every High Tea booking will fund 10 meals for children supported through the initiative, connecting diners at Colombo Social directly to school meal programs in Sri Lanka. Harvest2 is already underway across the Batticaloa District and will expand across 23 rural schools over the next 12 months, supporting more than 2,700 children through daily meals, environmental education and community-led agriculture. The program builds on Dilmah’s Sustainable Empowerment Programme, connecting small-scale farmers, schools and community kitchens through a local food system designed to support both students and farming families. Through the initiative, small-scale farmers will supply fresh produce directly to school kitchens across the Batticaloa District, creating stable income pathways for local families while helping students access nutritious daily meals. Participating schools will also become hubs for environmental and agricultural education, with organic gardens, fruit orchards, native tree planting, beekeeping initiatives and biogas-powered kitchens. A long way from the pass For Plate it Forward Founder Shaun Christie-David, Harvest2 is the social enterprise’s most ambitious international initiative to date. Christie-David says, “The sliding door moment of Mum and Dad leaving Sri Lanka for Australia changed the course of our lives and gave us opportunities we could never have imagined, in a country we are so proud to now call home. “But with that has always come a deep desire to give back and honour the opportunities and luck we have had. “For us, that means returning to the east coast of Sri Lanka, a place that has experienced so much hardship through war and economic challenges, and doing what we know best – changing lives through food.” The project extends Plate it Forward’s work using food to create opportunity, address food insecurity and support communities through hospitality, while returning that model to Sri Lanka’s east coast. Harvest2 also has a strong focus on women-led employment pathways, with local mothers engaged to prepare meals through community kitchen programs designed to feel familiar, accessible and reflective of rural home kitchens. “Harvest2 is such a holistic approach to impact. It’s not just about feeding children. It’s about creating long-term change through food education, organic and sustainable gardens, and employment pathways for women who have long been excluded from the workforce, while providing healthy, nutritious meals for children who deserve every opportunity in life,” Christie-David continues. The initiative is also deeply personal for Christie-David, who is leading the project alongside his mother, Shiranie Christie-David. Originally from Batticaloa, Shiranie migrated from Sri Lanka’s east coast during the civil war. Harvest2 represents a long-held vision between mother and son to give back to the communities she left behind, turning their connection to Sri Lanka into long-term impact for future generations. “In this day and age, it really saddens me to see that there are children still going hungry. There shouldn’t be a child who has to go looking for food,” says Shiranie Christie-David. “Batticaloa is where my mum grew up, and it brings back a lot of nostalgia for me. I’m so happy that we are able to move forward with this project in my hometown. “What we are trying to do is ensure we never forget our roots or take for granted the opportunities we have had. This is our way of giving back to Sri Lanka in our own small way.” High tea, higher purpose The partnership will come to life in Sydney through Colombo Social’s new Sri Lankan High Tea, available every Saturday and Sunday from 12 pm – 4 pm. Priced at $50 per person, the experience includes unlimited Dilmah tea and a menu that focuses on classic Sri Lankan flavours and family recipes. The High Tea features ribbon sandwiches, seeni sambol and cheese tarts, lamb curry sausage rolls, beef patties, fish cutlets and pol roti served with sambols. For a sweet treat to follow, diners can expect Amma’s love cake, spiced snails and freshly baked scones with Sri Lankan pineapple jam and nutmeg clotted cream. Guests can also upgrade to unlimited tea-inspired mocktails for $20 or cocktails for $40. Every High Tea booking will fund 10 meals for children supported through Harvest2. “At Dilmah, we believe in making the world a better tea. Through Harvest2 and our partnership with Colombo Social, we bring this mission to life in a very tangible way,” says Dilhan C. Fernando, CEO & Chairman, Dilmah. “My sincere thanks to Shaun, Shiranie and the wonderful team at Plate it forward for helping connect Australian diners with our mission. “From July 11, every diner at Sri Lankan High Tea at Colombo Social will help support schoolchildren, farming families and sustainable livelihoods in Sri Lanka. It demonstrates the extraordinary impact that can happen when hospitality, community and purpose come together.” Locally, Plate it Forward has donated more than 664,000 meals to support food security and delivered more than 280,000 hours of paid training and employment opportunities to people facing barriers to work. Harvest2 builds on that impact, extending the organisation’s community-led model into Sri Lanka. “Thinking with empathy, care and humanity means asking yourself what someone going through difficult circumstances truly needs most. Sometimes the simplest and most powerful way to show someone you care about them is by feeding them,” Christie-David concludes. “To be able to say to our customers that by dining with us, they are helping feed children facing hardship, is something incredibly meaningful.” Source: Electric Collective Find more dining out updates on Crumb Wire.