Hi.

I’m  Diane, wife of Jay and mom of 3 beautiful girls (2 are adults and one teen, Olivia, who works harder than any teen should have to). 

In 2001, Jay rented a space on Wall Street for his custom period garment business. The front of the store had been sublet to a retailer named Charlie. When Charlie left,  the front space was available again. I told my husband that I “knew someone “ who thought a candy store might do well there. I waited until he agreed and showed up the next day with paint. The Kingston Candy Bar became part of the Knightly Endeavors enterprise and a fast community favorite.

Knightly Endeavors has always brought the lions share of our family income. Jay would often be away on the road going to events and festivals. He and staff, hired seasonally, traveled from state to state, venue to venue, into events with packed with crowds in the thousands. The candy store grew popular with locals and visitors alike. And more than a few people who need the service also know about the opportunity to access food in an emergency any time I’m in the store, in the pantry between the two businesses. We have donated food, candy, clothing to every organization that asked, and often simply offer before being asked, because that’s what we believe makes our community strong. We try to be kind and compassionate champions of our city and our community family. 

We have been through a lot in this space. Kids growing up, sickness, injury, bad weather and hard times. But we always got through it all together. 

Then, COVID hit. At first we thought the lockdowns and closures would be a fast temporary set back. Then each and every event, festival, Faire and gathering canceled. Weddings were postponed or scaled back, custom orders for Knightly Endeavors vanished and catering opportunities for Kingston Candy Bar  ended. Easter and Mother’s Day were nonexistent. The summer which should have brought business income  to cover every expense through Christmas,  became the summer that wasn’t. 

One by one, day after day we saw our livelihood disappear.  I had taken a job with a local agency in December and Jay has been working part time jobs so we can try and make ends meet. Our 16 year old has borne the brunt of manning  the candy bar, as remote classes for KHS are attended via laptop while at the shoppe. Our schedules are stretched gossamer thin trying to squeeze every penny to meet impossible expenses but there aren’t enough hours or strength left in the day. 

We are behind on our rent, very behind. At home too, but more so at the shoppe. And expenses just keep rolling in. The inevitable happened this week, we received our eviction notice.

Make no mistake, these are not greedy gentrification landlords. We had a contract and we have defaulted on that contract by not being able to earn enough to meet those obligations. We are aware the landlords can get twice what we pay if we leave. Our only hope is to catch up and reinvent the way we do what we do.  And pray that they let us stay. 

We are reinventing our business models. More online, shipping and virtual events are coming. But, to do this we need to have a base of operations. 

This go fund me will allow us to pay back rent, pay rent through the end of the year, pay expenses like utilities and insurance through the end of the year while the new business models evolve.
The go fund me will also give us a chance to show our landlords that we have the support of our community, that the people we love are also there to help us. 

There is so much more I want to say.  But for now, thank you for your support in the most  humbled of hearts Is what I can do right now.