Support Mike Audet's Recovery from a Bicycle Accident

Hi friends! Well, our beloved Mike finally went and adventured too hard. Last weekend, Mike had a bicycling accident that resulted in several broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and a severely broken clavicle. As you might imagine, the hospital bills stacked up fast as he received the care and surgeries he needed while at the hospital for five days.

While we and all the local YMCA members know that Mike never shies away from a heavy lift, this is a big one for a single dad of three who also happens to have just bought a project house that requires a bunch of renovation work to be done by him before he moves his family into it. This is why we are reaching out to rally our community around our local Sunday brunch Bloody Mary slinging superhero. Thankfully, Mike has already been able to return to work and much of his life at a significantly reduced capacity while his body recovers its strength and heals towards a full recovery. And, it will take three months for Mike’s body to make a full recovery from his injuries.

The goal of this campaign is to support our friend in his healing by reducing some of the big financial anxieties of big hospital bills coupled with the need to take time off of work for follow-up appointments. As you might imagine, there is no PTO in the food service industry, so every day off of work is felt financially. For this reason, it is our hope to also raise enough funds that Mike can feel some freedom in listening to his body and take a few shifts off over the first couple weeks of his recovery, as needed, rather than pushing his body too hard while it is healing.

What the funds raised will support:

Total goal is $6,000

If you’ve ever walked through the doors of Hope and Olive, you know well Mike’s brilliant ear-to-ear smile that is there to greet you most every hour that the restaurant is open. If you’ve ever called into the restaurant you’ve likely been greeted with the query “Hello, this is Mike, what can I do to make your day better?!” uttered with the utmost sincerity. If you’ve ever visited more than once you’ve likely experienced Mike saddle up alongside you for a quick check-in to hear how the projects are going at your house, or how your kids are doing, or what new is happening in your life. Whatever your experience is of Mike, we are certain you know him as someone who leads with big heart, attentive ears, and a willingness to bring can-do energy to just about anyone who needs it.

So now it's our turn to surround him with that same can-do energy. It’s pretty easy when we hit these challenge points in life to feel like it's on us to figure it all out and do the heavy lift. And, it is total magic when we can feel reminded that we are part of a grand ecosystem of community and support that wants to respond with the same kind of love and support that we have seeded into it. If you’ve experienced Mike as part of that ecosystem of love and support in your life, please consider donating to this campaign and/or sharing it with others in our community. Let’s be the reminder to our friend and each other that we can truly and actually change someone’s experience of their life when we rally around each other in the challenging moments.

Big thanks, friends!