COVID almost closed this Alabama coffee shop. Then customers stepped up.
Thanks to an outpouring of support from the community, a downtown Auburn, Alabama, coffee shop is staying in business.
Coffee Cat, 124 Tichenor Ave., was one of the many small businesses impacted by COVID-19. It nearly went out of business due to financial burdens, until an act of kindness brought much-needed funding to keep the shop open.
“The last few days have been an (incredible) experience,” the shop said in a Facebook post. “We have been blown away by the generosity and outpouring of love. In just 3 days, you have raised over $15,000 in donations and sales that will keep Coffee Cat afloat and serving Auburn.”
Dire circumstances
Owner Madeleine Corbeau’s shop was forced to operate on reduced staff, shorter hours of operation and strict regulations regarding capacity and service throughout the pandemic, according to GoFundMe spokesperson Claudia Curiel.
Then, in May, a glimmer of hope: Coffee Cat’s application for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, as part of the CARES Act, was approved. Funds, according to a congratulatory email, would hit in 3-7 business days.
But the funds never arrived, and Coffee Cat’s well ran dry. A GoFundMe account was started in an attempt to stay afloat.
The campaign’s goal was straightforward: $8,000 would be enough to bridge the five-week gap between early July and mid-August, when students return to campus and business would be expected to pick up.
The campaign raised almost double the goal.
“(Corbeau’s) devotion to her business and her employees has been monumental, and her willingness to continue to fight for this place and the people she loves has been unwavering,” wrote Chloe Covin, a friend of Corbeau’s and the organizer of the GoFundMe account.
Outpouring of support
The GoFundMe campaign raised $11,152 before new donations were disabled, having met and exceeded its goal, and total donations to the shop were over $15,000.
The shop said in a Facebook post that many customers have been rewarded free coffee for life due to their generosity, while several others have won “limitless discounts.”
Customers left comments of gratitude and happiness that the coffee shop, in business for seven years, will remain open.
“This warms my heart almost as much as your coffee does,” wrote a customer identified as Kelsey Crump. “I am beyond thrilled so many people came out in support.”
The coffee shop shares the sentiment.
“The gratitude we are feeling is overwhelming!” the shop said in the same post. “The only way to thank you all is to keep going! So keep going we shall!”
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 11:28 AM.
