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Help A Small Business Grow

Hi, my name is Aurea, and I’m the proud owner of How Sweet It Is. The shop is located in a quaint town in Yonkers, NY. I'm surrounded by other great mom and pop shops. A couple have been around for over 100 years! That's my wish!

I opened this dream in Jan 2014 as a candy/cupcake shop. Originally, my dream was to bake here, but my resources were limited.

I saved 18K in 3 years, and took out a personal loan for 25K. I took a leap of faith, using my credit cards to purchase equipment and inventory that was needed.

This dream was important to me because I wasn’t getting any younger and I knew it was the right time for me to start. My son was grown and had moved out, so it was time to go forward.

I opened How Sweet It Is on January 18, 2014 and I’m still standing 4 years later! The community has welcomed my shop with open arms and I’ve made some really great new friends. It’s especially gratifying to see the children come in and see their amazement and awe at all the colorful and yummy candies and sweets. That was one of the main reasons to open this shop, to let this generation get to experience a sweet memory of my youth. When we were kids, on Friday nights after dinner, we’d head down to the local candy shop and pick out a candy, comic book, and sit at the counter for an egg cream. Yum!

Now, I get to be a part of making that sweet memory for other young families…or relive it for people my age.

I’m ready to go to the next stage and back to my original plan, opening the baking part of it. I will need funds to re-organize and purchase new equipment for baking. There will be some renovating necessary, as well. I will be transforming the shop into a place where people can come in and sit down and read their morning paper, while enjoying a yummy cupcake or cookie. The cupcakes I sell now are #1 and I love the local baker I support, but it’s time for me to shine in the baking department.

This is where your very important part comes in. To help me realize the next part of my dream. I'm hoping to raise these funds within the next 8-10 months, so that it can be ready by my 5th anniversary, next year.

I will be able to employ more workers and help bring that unemployment rate down. 
I purchase many of my inventory and supplies from local businesses. That's how we stay open, we SUPPORT each other!  :0)

Other small businesses have opened since I did in 2014, next door is fresh fish and chips and across the street a cycling studio. All of us are a viable center of commerce.

I am one of these businesses.

I need your help. Please contribute, if you can.

No amount is too small - $5 is as important as $1,000.

We all matter in America, small towns and big ones, chain stores and small local shops...a very simple message...but starting to lose its shine.

I did not start this Sweet shop to get rich. I love people, I love community, I love seeing dreams come true, and I love making people happy in this sometimes crazy world we live in.

I hope you’ll find yourself, one day, in this part of the world and stop in for a warm smile and a sweet treat…maybe make a warm memory for yourself and family. I’m open six days a week.

Please check out and like my FB page, or Yelp or Instagram or Twitter, hey, I even have a website :0)
www.howsweet979.com
www.facebook.com/howsweet979
Social media has really helped put my shop on the map. But it’s the people who come in and shop that help keep my doors open.

We need to keep community alive in America, and support it, crowdsourcing sites like GoFundMe have given us new tools to do that.

Without community, something important is lost. Community is the fabric that binds people together.
I hope you can help us in whatever amount seems right and comfortable for you. A big sweet thanks for reading this, I appreciate it and will keep you posted on all the new updates. 
#SupportLocalBusinesses
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Donations 

  • Mantat Wong
    • $40 (Offline)
    • 4 yrs
  • Ileana Agostini
    • $50 (Offline)
    • 5 yrs
  • Jehovah Rapha
    • $25,000 (Offline)
    • 6 yrs
  • Victoria Alba
    • $100 (Offline)
    • 6 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $75 (Offline)
    • 6 yrs
Donate

Organizer

Aurea Roman-Johnson
Organizer
Yonkers, NY

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