Bring Back Babbini's Paninis: Fund Our Food Truck

Hi everyone, it's Anthony!

Before I say anything I would like to thank every person who has supported us in our journey so far, and I am deeply grateful that you are here reading this! Following that, I want to introduce myself to those who may be new to this fundraiser and all who have been watching our progress but are curious about myself and the business.

I am Anthony Babbini. I have been working in restaurants in many capacities for my entire adult life, from dishwashing to ownership. Recently I had a restaurant called Babbini's Paninis in North Bend, OR, and a few years ago I owned another restaurant in Batesville, AR called BIG'S of Batesville when I was attending college. While I sold my first restaurant when I decided to move back to Oregon, with Babbini's Paninis the store was only open for just shy of 4 months. The team and I have had amazing support in this endeavor, but we experienced some detrimental issues with the cost of operating the space. We faced cost overruns on renovations, variable bills being higher than expected, and equipment failures that were unseen at the beginning that were far larger an expense than I had projected. While I had calculated that we may have an overhead of around 4 thousand dollars a month to keep the lights on we ended up with a little over 8 thousand a month. This paired with high labor and food costs made this location difficult to sustain. That is why I am starting this campaign.

So from here, we are working on opening a food truck/trailer. We have an agreement with a location that would like us as part of their operation, but I can't specify where that is without the funding. What we are looking to achieve in this fundraiser is to bring in enough money to set up a unit and try to cover our costs for doing so. All funds that are submitted will be used to do the following things:

1. Purchase or lease a trailer/truck that will be up to code per regulations.

2. Covering all necessary changes for licensing and inspections per the local codes.

3. Cover any labor costs that bring our valued employees back to work.

4. Movement of the trailer to the aforementioned location.

5. Supply money to produce branded clothing for our supporters who donate.

6. Cover any unexpected operational costs that may be unseen at this time.

I truly believe that this is something that we can accomplish! I am open to any suggestions about how I can improve this process! I am looking into trailers/trucks that may be utilized lease to own or buy one outright if we reach our funding goals. I do want to acknowledge that behind me there is an unbelievable team that I care about deeply that feels exactly the way I do about this transition and being able to be their employer is a gift, even if we all disagree on music tastes sometimes. Haha

All donations are appreciated and accepted, every dollar counts!

We have finally closed Chapter 1 and are deeply excited for Chapter 2! If anyone has any thoughts you are welcome to contact me! I am always available through the facebook page!

Again, thanks so much to the amazing team that I have behind me, and to every person that is here supporting us! You are all, truly appreciated!

*Disclaimers* "No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe."

Below, are a few photos of offerings that will be seen in the new trailer!