On July 14, Madeleine Corbeau was crying in Coffee Cat over the community’s support of her business.
Earlier that day, she called her friend Chloe Covin and told her the last plan to keep Coffee Cat in business — getting assistance from the Small Business Administration — had officially fallen through, so it was time to move on to the next option. Sitting together in the cafe after hours, Covin posted a fundraiser for the store to GoFundMe.
Donations started pouring in. Every five minutes the post got another donation to keep things running at Coffee Cat, the business Corbeau has owned and managed for seven years — which is the only thing she really ever wanted to do.
“OK, you can’t cry every time someone donates,” she remembered Covin telling her. “We’re going to stop looking at it for a little while.”
Within 12 hours, the GoFundMe had almost met its original $8,000 goal. Once donations were disabled, patrons had donated $11,152 to the coffee shop, with six people donating $1,000.
“Once it got to a certain point, I was just overwhelmed,” she said.
Described as a “last ditch effort” by Corbeau, the GoFundMe was created to keep Coffee Cat’s workers earning a livable wage until students return for fall classes, when business is expected to pick up.
Corbeau was initially hopeful that her business would receive funds from the Small Business Administration’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund, designed to provide emergency assistance to restaurants and bars that were impacted by COVID-19. After she received a letter of approval on May 14, Corbeau was told her many different things about her grant status. She was told her funds would be deposited in 5-7 business days, then told again a week later. In mid-June, she saw her funds were “sent” in the SBA’s online portal, despite not receiving any money. On June 30 she received a letter telling her Coffee Cat’s funds were rescinded. After calling the SBA about the letter, she was told that, despite the letter, money was actually on the way. On July 14, two months after receiving the letter of approval, someone at the SBA confirmed to her that Coffee Cat actually wouldn’t be getting the money due to her business’s priority status.
Given to businesses owned by women, military veterans and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, the practice of granting priority status came under attack in a series of lawsuits claiming it was discriminatory, and the SBA stopped all payments to priority applications in mid-June as a result. At the end of June, the well of $28.6 million dried up, leaving about 270,000 businesses empty handed.
The amount Coffee Cat was initially approved to receive, calculated from the difference in sales in 2019 and 2020, would have been substantial, Corbeau said. But she hasn’t dwelled on it.
“I don’t feel like I was unfairly treated,” she said. “I understand what happened happened.”
People didn’t only show their appreciation for the coffee shop by donating money. Corbeau said after the post was made, the store saw an increase in business as people visited to show support.
“The three days after the post was made, like everybody came into the shop,” she said. “It was just such a showing of kindness and generosity. I have been told that I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was surprised.”
That feeling of being appreciated was felt by the staff too, who she said have been rejuvenated by the outpouring of kind words and financial support.
“Everybody today has been so great,” said Abigail Horn, Coffee Cat general manager. “It's not just people supporting the GoFundMe, it’s people coming in and buying drinks who are like, 'I've been making coffee at home, but I'm here for y'all today,' or buying retail items that they’ve had their eye on for a while. And the verbal support too has been incredible today.”
And while the donations are a blessing, Corbeau said that receiving that money in such a short amount of time gave her a heightened sense of responsibility for what to do with the business.
“The community gave us — like gave us — almost $15,000,” she said. “That’s no small thing, and it’s my job to steward that well.”
While all of the money from the fundraiser will go toward payroll, she’s been finding ways to give back to the community long term. She’s been working to form partnerships with and host events for local nonprofits as well as using Coffee Cat’s social media following to give back and bring attention to causes that she thinks need it.
“I think I always feel that responsibility to share the wealth, because I’m just like all of the rest of the small businesses in Auburn and in the country,” she said. “That responsibility, I think, is always there to take care of the people around you.”
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Evan Mealins, senior in philosophy and economics, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
