Major Repairs Prevent Food Truck from Succeeding
Donation protected
The challenges faced by women entrepreneurs are many. And it's been the community who has supported me through and through - from my early beginnings. Beyond facing hiccups when launching and maintaining my company growing since 2017, and surviving through COVID, I am sharing this because I cannot face this challenge of repairing my truck alone. By supporting my woman-owned and operated businesses, you could also be helping the Mt. Airy community.
It's been important to me to remain true to myself, serve others and find my own voice through the food I serve. I have risen above preconceived expectations through hard work, perseverance and community. Your dollar is power.
My food truck specializes in Cheesesteaks we offer chicken (The Appollo), (Adrienne) Cauliflower, (Rocky OG) the traditional ribeye and the (Balboa ) Smoked Beef Brisket - which recently won an award!
My truck has been visited by folks in Love Park and I participated in vending for festivals, Philadelphia Eagles tailgate parties, beer garden events, as well as catered company parties and gorgeous weddings.
One of the biggest hurdles I faced was in March of 2020, where I was forced to cease operations with the food truck due to COVID 19. With grit and faith, I opened a cafe and called it “Brotherly Grub Cafe” - through it all I wanted my brand to remain relevant. During these hard time, Brotherly Grub made the news on almost every local media outlets for our well known Brisket Cheesesteaks.
Travel Noire: https://travelnoire.com/black-owned-brotherly-grub-southern-inspired-cuisine-with-philly-flair
To survive we offered a pay forward initiative to offer lunches and dinners to healthcare workers from Doctors to the maintenance departments.
Between 2020 to 2022 sales was not what they were pre COVID. But we pushed through by getting creative, finding opportunities to cater as much as we could and expand our business. In June of this year, we had an event and the truck just stopped. Just to keep my commitments, I had to pay to have the truck towed to 2 different events so I could keep business going. The costs mounted, as the first visit to the mechanic cost us over 3K.
In order to get the truck back up and running it’s going to cost 12K since it needs a new engine. My hope is that I raise at least 12K to get the parts my truck needs. And it's risky because we've tried to replace the engine before and it doesn't last long. There's no guarantee how long it will last and I will back in the same position.
A new truck will ensure the long-term success of Brotherly Grub to run longer and stronger. With the assistance of the community, we will need to put a wrap for the truck to showcase the name our team has been able to grow with a cost of 4.2K. With this new opportunity by having a food truck, allows me to continue to give jobs to students and the community needing jobs to sustain.
With your help, I can get my food truck up and running again. I can vend more, create opportunities for students and future entrepreneurs. The road to entrepreneurial success includes more obstacles for women business owners. Thank you for your consideration to support me and the local economy in the Philadelphia area.
Sat, Nov 4th 6:00-10:00 pm join us at Jacobs Northwest, where we will host a chicken & fish fry to join the community around our cause and enjoy live entertainment. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fish-fry-for-brotherly-grub-food-truck-tickets-747227396257
Thank you for your generosity to help us succeed!
Organizer
Tanesha Trippett
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA