"The Bodega" Launch Party :)

Do I have 100 people who would be willing to become a part of my "launch team" to begin a venture that I believe will become not only a vital part of our community but a creative venture that helps make the world a better place?  

Over the course of the past several months, we have laid flooring - we have painted walls, we have built bars by the window to drink your coffee with a view.  It's been a busy few months of planning and collaborating on a project that has been living in my heart for a very long time.  

Let me back up ... several years ago while I was living in Honduras I fell in love with some little boys who came to live at our orphanage.   As we all lived life together I came to learn that their father was a coffee farmer and that he made approximately $1 for a full days work in the blazing hot sun cutting down coffee plants.  The field he had to work to make $1 was huge.  

About the same time, I was developing a love for the coffee shop scene.  While traveling I would look for the local coffee shops in each city, find myself a spot by the window, read a good book, dream some in a journal, and hope for the day when those would come true.  I loved the vibe of a coffee shop and the study of humanity that lives within one.  Conversation and creativity and community in some unique yet beautiful forms seemed to rally around a good cup of coffee and a table in those shops.  

I wanted to help create a bridge between what I loved about those spaces and what I saw with those farmers.  A world where we both loved the vibe of a coffee shop and also create better lives for those producing the brew within our cups.  All the way back to the guy who grows, cuts, and dries those beans.  

Yet that wasn't all I wanted to do.  I wanted to use the space to rally for great causes and initiatives that I have had the privilege of being introduced to.  Goodness, there are so many people doing so much good all over this world who could use our help to magnify their voice to people who have not yet heard of their projects and plans.  So, we will help be a megaphone for those causes and stories.  

But wait, there's more.  When I lived in Honduras and a team would arrive we would often make our first stop at "The Bodega."  It was an old warehouse type building that was used to house donations that had come in.  It stored tools for our projects and various other things.  The team would all gather here and we would receive the marching orders for the week or at least an overview of them.  It was the place where you resourced to be able to go do good and distribute it to so many others.  

So, when months ago we began attempting to choose a name for what would eventually become this coffee shop/creative space/community gathering spot - "The Bodega" quickly came to mind as a name because it represented to me space where people came together to go out and do good.  It's exactly what I hope this space will become.  

It's still dreamy and challenging and exciting and a little scary if I'm honest but the best things have happened in my world when the dream felt way bigger than me.  This certainly fits that bill. 

I was presented with a pretty amazing opportunity today - but I need some help from a launch team of folks who would buy into and invest in the vision of a space that would use coffee and creativity and community to come together and make the world better.  

A local coffee shop in our area is closing its doors on Wednesday and through a string of events that I will call God's provision I was introduced to this very kind man this evening.  He is parting with all of his equipment and he has offered me an incredibly amazing deal.  Equipment that would normally cost me about $30,000 in startup fees and costs he is willing to sell for roughly a third of that.  

I had planned to buy equipment as I could over the next several months but it would be a much slower process. I have no doubt this is an incredible deal and I would love to open the doors to this venture as soon as possible.  This would certainly help to do that.  

There's so much more to tell you - and I can't wait to do that over the coming days and months ... but for now, if you're up for sacrificing a bit to be a part of the adventure then I invite you to come alongside as we turn all of this planning into a place that we affectionately call "The Bodega" - where coffee, creativity, and community meet to change the world!  

Thank you for considering becoming a part of the launch team to make this dream come true! 

Here are the perks should you choose to become a part of this "launch party":   

Donate $50 - and get your name added to a list of the "launch party" that will be displayed permanently in The Bodega as the first people who decided to believe in and back this dream.

Donate $100 - and get the $50 perk and a launch party membership punch card for one free drink a month for the next year.

Donate $250 - and get all the perks above plus a handcrafted mug by a local potter to drink your beverage of the month in.

Donate $500 - and get all of the above plus be invited to the limited seating grand opening night with free sample drinks and live music and get to choose the name of one drink on our permanent menu.

Donate $1000 - all of the perks above ... PLUS a private concert at The Bodega for you and up to 30 of your closest friends to listen to Anthony Mossburg and Katelyn Read (former Voice contestants and all around amazing human beings). In addition to that you will be granted a VIP launch party membership card that will entitle you to free standard coffee at The Bodega for life.

Donate more than that and well all the above perks ... and something else amazing will be negotiated for your incredible generosity at helping the dreamers keep dreaming and the world keep becoming a more beautiful place to exist.

Let's do this friends!