The night after the catastrophic flooding in VT, I relaunched our Pay It Forward program that we've used since 2020 to help collect funds for our local food shelf and for customers to pay meals forward to those in need.

We collected over $8,500 in 24 hours, and it just kept going. So, we connected with the Waterbury Area Food Shelf, the Rotary Club of Waterbury, VT, and our local Good Neighbor Fund to get them much needed funds to help Waterbury ASAP.

As Waterbury started it's recovery, we set out to volunteer in Montpelier + Barre and learned more about the extraordinary relief efforts of the The Vermont Community Foundation, Montpelier Alive and The Rainbow Bridge Community Center, as well as the severe damage at Mosaic Vermont whose mission is to help heal communities and end sexual violence. These organizations and communities all needed help, too.

To date, you've helped us collect an incredible $21,504.86, and here's how we've paid those funds forward:

$5k to Waterbury Area Food Shelf $5k to Rotary Club - Waterbury, VT $5k to The Good Neighbor Fund $2.5k to VT Community Foundation $1k to Montpelier Alive $500 to Rainbow Bridge Community Center $500 to Mosaic Vermont

The remaining $2k just about covers our expenses for the food + supplies we've donated, and any additional funds collected will continue to be paid forward to the Waterbury Area Food Shelf and The Good Neighbor Fund to keep helping neighbors in need.

We just can't thank you enough. ❤️

The "Kindness Jar" at our register is where customers can submit their name for our monthly drawing to gift someone a $25 Gift Certificate as a thank you for being kind.

Our “Pay It Forward Meal Program” allows us to convert customer donations into an equal amount of special Gift Certificates issued directly to the Waterbury Area Food Shelf so that their customers may also visit the cafe to enjoy a free meal + beverage of their choice.

We believe that kindness can be contagious, and we think we could all do just a bit more to be kind!

Our fundraising events April - June 2021 collected $8,755 to support World Central Kitchen’s efforts to to feed those in and fleeing Ukraine. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed. Thank you!

After making an initial $2,500 donation to ACLU-VT, we offered to match your own donations up to another $2,500. You helped us exceed our goal ahead of our deadline and we thank you!

Now, we invite you to join us in continuing the much harder work of dismantling systemic racism and demanding racial justice because absolutely ALL Black Lives Matter and, just like you, we're not just here for the coffee.

We can not put into words what it meant to have you help us raise over $3,600 for Rosina & Kay Wallace to help them rebuild after their horrific barn fire. Thank you!

Thank you to EVERYONE who helped raise money for the Maria Fund. Together we collected just under $2,500!