Help the Daisy Survive Winter
Donation protected
We opened the Daisy Café & Cupcakery in 2008, in the middle of the Great Recession. Chutzpah, right? Well, we made it through that and we’ve made it this far, 11+ years in. But now we have the coronavirus to struggle through. The last 8 months have been the most difficult we’ve seen, and we know that the next 4 months will be even harder. We humbly ask for your financial support to get us through.
Our founding concept was our “4 Cs”—Café, Cupcakes, Coffee, and Community. As a restaurant, we are proud of the food and drinks we offer as the basis for what makes us successful. But the “community” part was the first reason we opened this restaurant at all, and maintaining our presence as a community anchor is what we want to fight for. Now we hope our community will fight for us. We adore all of our customers, both ultra-loyal (of which there are many) and occasional diners too. We are asking your help so that the Daisy may survive the winter and continue to server you all.
Since the coronavirus closed all restaurants temporarily in March, we’ve invested heavily to keep our customers and staff safe from the coronavirus. We invested in changing our business model to accommodate outdoor dining through the summer. That meant committing to outdoor dining first. We repaved our parking lot, bought outdoor dining furniture, and bought all of the other necessities for serving safely outdoors. That was a $20,00.00+ investment. We took a government loan to help achieve that. We received PPP funds so we could continue to employ as large a staff as possible, and we have continued to maintain as much staff as possible. We’ve received local grants, and continue to pursue others. A second round of PPP funding would help, but it’s nowhere in sight. Despite our every effort, with the change in weather and loss of outdoor dining, we are unsure if the Daisy can weather this winter without your support.
The ongoing safety of our customers and staff is our primary concern. We’re continuing to follow Dane Forward guidelines for indoor dining (with limited, spaced seating) and we built outdoor seating with tents and heaters. When we first tried to establish tents and heaters, one massive Sunday windstorm wiped out about half of our investment. Devastating, after all of that effort. Now we’ve repositioned things to defend against a recurrence, but we only have a limited outdoor seating capacity (to go along with our limited indoor seating capacity).
We’re doing everything we can to stay in this fight, so we can continue to support our community the way we think/hope you want us to support you. These are dire times for everyone, so it’s hard for us to ask. Born in the Great Recession, we want desperately to get through this great pandemic. We hope you will support the Daisy and our staff so we survive the winter and bloom again in spring.
With all our love,
The Daisy Family
Our founding concept was our “4 Cs”—Café, Cupcakes, Coffee, and Community. As a restaurant, we are proud of the food and drinks we offer as the basis for what makes us successful. But the “community” part was the first reason we opened this restaurant at all, and maintaining our presence as a community anchor is what we want to fight for. Now we hope our community will fight for us. We adore all of our customers, both ultra-loyal (of which there are many) and occasional diners too. We are asking your help so that the Daisy may survive the winter and continue to server you all.
Since the coronavirus closed all restaurants temporarily in March, we’ve invested heavily to keep our customers and staff safe from the coronavirus. We invested in changing our business model to accommodate outdoor dining through the summer. That meant committing to outdoor dining first. We repaved our parking lot, bought outdoor dining furniture, and bought all of the other necessities for serving safely outdoors. That was a $20,00.00+ investment. We took a government loan to help achieve that. We received PPP funds so we could continue to employ as large a staff as possible, and we have continued to maintain as much staff as possible. We’ve received local grants, and continue to pursue others. A second round of PPP funding would help, but it’s nowhere in sight. Despite our every effort, with the change in weather and loss of outdoor dining, we are unsure if the Daisy can weather this winter without your support.
The ongoing safety of our customers and staff is our primary concern. We’re continuing to follow Dane Forward guidelines for indoor dining (with limited, spaced seating) and we built outdoor seating with tents and heaters. When we first tried to establish tents and heaters, one massive Sunday windstorm wiped out about half of our investment. Devastating, after all of that effort. Now we’ve repositioned things to defend against a recurrence, but we only have a limited outdoor seating capacity (to go along with our limited indoor seating capacity).
We’re doing everything we can to stay in this fight, so we can continue to support our community the way we think/hope you want us to support you. These are dire times for everyone, so it’s hard for us to ask. Born in the Great Recession, we want desperately to get through this great pandemic. We hope you will support the Daisy and our staff so we survive the winter and bloom again in spring.
With all our love,
The Daisy Family
Organizer
Daryl Sisson
Organizer
Madison, WI
