Cafe Mir's $30 Covid Relief Fund
Donation protected
This fundraising campaign is entirely an attempt by a smalltown restaurant to stay afloat during the Time of Covid.
We Frederick cousins, Nathaniel & Joshua (Nate & Josh in slang), are the owners & operators of a small restaurant called Cafe Mir in the rural American town of Fertile, Iowa. It's the kind of restaurant that utilizes as much product from local farmers, gardeners, bakers, bee-keepers, brewers, etc. as possible. If you'd like to call that type of restaurant Farm-to-Table, be our guests. We're really not sure what to call it except Legit.
The two of us built Cafe Mir together (not without help from family & friends!) with much love, sweat, enthusiasm, but very little money. This last detail compelled us to obtain a helpful grant from our county (Worth), along with loans from banks, family, & companies along the way. Neither of us are men of means, unless you consider ingenuity, hospitality, work ethic, heart, & general handsomeness (that last quality forced its way into the paragraph with the help of our esteemed sometimes dishwasher, Eman Khan). We were both born & raised in North Iowa, moved away for years, then returned to the Heartland.
Like so many other restaurants during this time, ours has been closed for dining by the State of Iowa. As many restaurant owners know, although we're able to continue to operate on a take-out-only basis, this isn't enough to keep a certain type of restaurant afloat. Especially one in a town of a little more than 300 people. We've deeply appreciated the folks who have been showing up every Tuesday, Friday, & Saturday (our open days) for take-out, & hope to continue doing that & to reaquaint our chairs & tables to the human anatomy once all this has eased up, but in order to do both of those things we'll need some help from our friends.
On the 24th of March we applied for the Iowa Economic Development Small Business Relief Grant within the first few hours of the application process opening. From April 7-10th we awaited anxiously the waves of daily releasings of the list of grantees, & were confused & heartbroken (& maybe just a little angry) to discover that Cafe Mir wasn't deemed to be deserving of assistance from the State of Iowa. Over 550 restaurants in Iowa were chosen before us. Several of these restaurants with verifiably wealthier owners received the full $25,000. Good for them! We're not fixing to belittle anyone. But we asked for a little less ($12,000), just the amount that we need to continue to operate for 2 months, & we received nothing.
We have applied for a couple of loans available to small businesses, but have yet to hear back. It's tough to stomach taking out more loans on top of the large amount that we already owe our creditors. We will be applying for a potentially forgiveable SBA loan that will allow us to bring back employees & pay them, but won't allow us to pay ourselves or purchase inventory.
This campaign of ours is seeking $9,000 total from friends, family, sympathizers, & NBA max-contract players who are looking to diversify their portfolios.
Please limit your donations to $30: we're not about getting greedy, but growing goodness.
Our goal is to reach the 300 donation mark.
All money received will go toward inventory, employees, owners, debt, utilities, & breathing deeper.
Donate if you can & we'll love you forever!
Or at least we'll thank you for the help & salute you next time we meet.
Sincerely Yours....
Nathaniel & Joshua Frederick
#smallbusinessrelief
We Frederick cousins, Nathaniel & Joshua (Nate & Josh in slang), are the owners & operators of a small restaurant called Cafe Mir in the rural American town of Fertile, Iowa. It's the kind of restaurant that utilizes as much product from local farmers, gardeners, bakers, bee-keepers, brewers, etc. as possible. If you'd like to call that type of restaurant Farm-to-Table, be our guests. We're really not sure what to call it except Legit.
The two of us built Cafe Mir together (not without help from family & friends!) with much love, sweat, enthusiasm, but very little money. This last detail compelled us to obtain a helpful grant from our county (Worth), along with loans from banks, family, & companies along the way. Neither of us are men of means, unless you consider ingenuity, hospitality, work ethic, heart, & general handsomeness (that last quality forced its way into the paragraph with the help of our esteemed sometimes dishwasher, Eman Khan). We were both born & raised in North Iowa, moved away for years, then returned to the Heartland.
Like so many other restaurants during this time, ours has been closed for dining by the State of Iowa. As many restaurant owners know, although we're able to continue to operate on a take-out-only basis, this isn't enough to keep a certain type of restaurant afloat. Especially one in a town of a little more than 300 people. We've deeply appreciated the folks who have been showing up every Tuesday, Friday, & Saturday (our open days) for take-out, & hope to continue doing that & to reaquaint our chairs & tables to the human anatomy once all this has eased up, but in order to do both of those things we'll need some help from our friends.
On the 24th of March we applied for the Iowa Economic Development Small Business Relief Grant within the first few hours of the application process opening. From April 7-10th we awaited anxiously the waves of daily releasings of the list of grantees, & were confused & heartbroken (& maybe just a little angry) to discover that Cafe Mir wasn't deemed to be deserving of assistance from the State of Iowa. Over 550 restaurants in Iowa were chosen before us. Several of these restaurants with verifiably wealthier owners received the full $25,000. Good for them! We're not fixing to belittle anyone. But we asked for a little less ($12,000), just the amount that we need to continue to operate for 2 months, & we received nothing.
We have applied for a couple of loans available to small businesses, but have yet to hear back. It's tough to stomach taking out more loans on top of the large amount that we already owe our creditors. We will be applying for a potentially forgiveable SBA loan that will allow us to bring back employees & pay them, but won't allow us to pay ourselves or purchase inventory.
This campaign of ours is seeking $9,000 total from friends, family, sympathizers, & NBA max-contract players who are looking to diversify their portfolios.
Please limit your donations to $30: we're not about getting greedy, but growing goodness.
Our goal is to reach the 300 donation mark.
All money received will go toward inventory, employees, owners, debt, utilities, & breathing deeper.
Donate if you can & we'll love you forever!
Or at least we'll thank you for the help & salute you next time we meet.
Sincerely Yours....
Nathaniel & Joshua Frederick
#smallbusinessrelief
Co-organizers (3)
Nathaniel Frederick
Organizer
Fertile, IA
Joshua Frederick
Co-organizer
Nancy Frederick
Co-organizer