Help Chef Mat of Vegan Café Jax Recover

For all those who have enjoyed food at Vegan Café Jax, you know how much endless love, hard work, and devotion Chef Mat contributes to benefiting the Jacksonville community. As kind, generous, and humble as Mat is, I know he would never ask for support and that is why I am creating this fundraiser on his behalf.

Something most people don’t know about Mat is that he has been living in a custom built RV since moving to Jacksonville in order to be able to put his living needs aside and pour all of his heart and resources into the startup of Vegan Café Jax, and to be able to afford high quality kitchen equipment and the highest quality locally sourced produce and ingredients. It has been a challenge, but he has been working around the clock 7 days a week for almost 12 full months with no break and he never complains.

A couple days ago, someone waited for him to leave the café for the night and saw him get in to a friend’s car to go out for the evening, leaving the camper unattended though still under surveillance. The burglar threw a brick through his camper, and stole every single personal belonging he owned, including two valuable bicycles, all of his audio equipment, his books, his clothes (including all of his chef coats and they even stole his socks and underwear), his shower, his TV and all other electronics, his event materials, his security cameras including the DVR, and everything else he had. They also ripped up and destroyed his bed, cut into all of the seats, and ripped out the dash console, rendering the vehicle immobile. The individual who did this was caught on camera taking over an hour to burglarize his vehicle and made several trips back and forth. Unfortunately, the individual was recognized as a local drug addict and the police did not feel confident in the recovery of any of his stolen possessions. Since the camper was custom built, the insurance would not cover the damages.

Since Mat is now currently without a safe place to live, I booked him an Air BnB for the month to ensure that he would have a safe place to live until figuring out where he can have a more permanent residence. As we move forward to help Mat to recover from such a terrible incident, any support provided to Mat is incredibly appreciated. As a professional in the automotive industry, I have assessed the damages and personal losses to be between $10,000-$15,000. Any contributions above this amount would also help Mat to afford a place to live. The prices at Vegan Café Jax are marked as low as they can possibly be, while upholding the highest quality ingredients and being able to pay his staff a proper salary. As a new business owner, Mat himself does not profit highly from the business, as the café is still only one year old and whatever he makes gets put right back into continuously upgrading the menu.

Thank you again for any help you may be able to contribute. If you are not able to afford a contribution, please consider enjoying a tasty and healthy meal at Vegan Café Jax and supporting his business.