Barn Raising for Moonstone Bistro Redding CA

We, as a community, plan to help Moonstone Bistro with something that they could not do alone. As with the “barn raising” of a bygone era, there is power in the number of people in this community that want to support a small, independently- owned and operated business such as Moonstone Bistro. Che and Tanya Stedman, the owners of Moonstone Bistro, have not asked for this- they are fiercely independent and hardworking- and they do not know the extent that we plan to reach out into the community to help save what we believe is a unique community asset.  Much of what we are planning will be a complete and total surprise to them.
These are unprecedented times.  Restaurants have been asked to close, allowed to reopen, and then again asked to close, and again allowed to reopen, but conditionally with limited outdoor seating.  Moonstone will not be able to continue to thrive unless they can expand their outdoor seating capacity.  This is an extraordinary challenge when you are a small operation with only a slight margin to survive. 
We, as Friends of Moonstone Bistro, want to do our part to help a local business thrive. “Many hands make light work”, and we are in the process of developing a barn-raising style expansion of the outdoor space at Moonstone Bistro to create a “four seasons room”.  Professional design services have been donated.  Architectural drawings and the structural engineering have been completed and have been approved by the City of Redding Building Department.  Don Ajamian will be the general contractor. Sierra Pacific Industries has committed to donating lumber, Wagner Electric is donating their services, Muse concrete is committed to pouring concrete, and other generous professionals from our community have committed their services to this project. 
We are going to need cash to pay for construction materials, outdoor patio tables, chairs, fencing, labor and more and we think that we need to raise around $35,000.  If you have anything that you can offer, this will be welcomed, whether it be your professional skills or donations. We will be very grateful.  Time is of the essence, so that Moonstone can be ready if indoor seating is mandated to close once again. For those who are unable to offer cash, we are also asking for volunteers to help plant flowers and to place the brick pavers, and a myriad of hands-on tasks.  Let’s have fun while saving a local business!

A bank account has also been set up at Cornerstone Bank 1845 California St. Redding, CA 96001.  Account name is "Moonstone Bistro Barn Raising".