Love Coffee, Love Seat form Partnership
One result: Camaraderie of Service to a Greater Purpose.
Perhaps you’ve heard the buzz surrounding the soon-to-be-opened Love Coffee Café and Bakery in local news media. Chuck Crews, Becky Llorens, and Love INC have teamed up to open a supportive employment Café focused on helping folks with barriers to employment move into the workforce. The Love My Job Training Center is the not-for-profit behind the effort. The café is located next to Love INC’s furniture bank and resale store, The Love Seat on the Business Loop, and will feature resale items and furniture along with artisan baked goods and espresso.
But this story is not about the café, it’s about the amazing team of volunteers who remodeled the space, forged friendships, and found themselves caught up in an escalating whirlwind of good will and service to a greater purpose.
Chuck Crews the “Energizer Bunny” behind the café and founder of Tigers on the Prowl , reached out to Ray Batt, a fellow church member and former Panera Bread exec. Ray had been instrumental in the initial planning for the café almost two years ago. Ray contacted David Moreton, a retired physician from Columbia. The pair often help each other with property maintenance projects. They began installing plastic wall panels in the food prep area, hanging drop ceiling, fixing drywall, running some plumbing fixtures and completing carpentry work.
David Fawer a former plant manager for Whirlpool contacted Love INC exploring volunteer opportunities, and soon became part of the team, helping with painting, plumbing and carpentry.
As work progressed it became apparent that the extent of the plumbing work at the former laundromat needed professional help. Scott and David Boyd, owner and president of Questec Mechanical sent their deputy Adam Carter to the rescue. Their team sawed concrete, scoped abandoned sewer lines, installed new water service, water heater, filtration system, sinks, and vent stacks. Rodney Stewart of Air and Water Solutions donated the filtration system.
Retired school teacher Tom Schlimpert soon joined the team to continue the painting work, along with Chuck’s friend Dan Pargee. Lori Pewett of Interior Design Associates lent her sensibilities to the color scheme, inspired by an outrageous mod furniture piece donated to the Love Seat. Tom then recruited two Crossing Church small groups to tackle the cleaning, window washing, and ductwork polishing needed to complete the project. To cap the whole project off, Chuck Crews and Peggy Daly, both widowed, started a new life together with a wedding at the space in December.
Providence? Serendipity? Both!
As the project was underway, Love INC Executive Director Pat McMurry was explaining to the team about the many serendipitous coincidences, (we like to call them Divine Interventions), that have marked Love INC’s growth over the last 10 years. The "miraculous" mortgage intervention that preserved the current admin building in 2011, the gift of free rent by Phillippe Auto Body of our first warehouse in 2009, and another rent gift by Scott Atkins of Love INC’s first office in 2007, and on and on. Pat further explained that while many of Love Coffee's projects-to-be-completed had been committed to - there was still no one to help with the cabinets. Fifteen minutes later Andy Werth of Stickman Woodworks walked into the café. “I saw the video of the café on Youtube last night”, Andy said, “I have particular interest in the population you plan to serve, I make cabinets, do you need any cabinet work?” Pat looked at Ray and David and said, “that’s how we roll at Love INC!”. Andy went on to collaborate with Emmet Russell of Russelbilt to create the cabinetry for the front counters.
