June 9, 2020
Final push underway for GoFundMe campaign that has already “exceeded everyone’s expectations.”
When Kessenich’s Ltd. launched the S.O.S Fund, a GoFundMe page to benefit furloughed Madison restaurant workers, the organizers had no idea it would be as successful as it’s been. With about two and a half weeks left of the fundraiser (launched in partnership with News 3 Now, channel3000.com, Madison Magazine and TVW on April 2), the fund has raised $53,817 of the $75,000 initial goal.
“It’s really exceeded everyone’s expectations,” says Kelly Hopkins, an account executive and Madison marketing liaison for Kessenich’s, which is a local restaurant supply store.
In an effort to make the final push to the fundraising goal, there’s a new way to support the S.O.S. Fund — a portion of proceeds from a handful of local products sold at all Metcalfe’s Market and Willy Street Co-op locations will go to the fund. S.O.S. signage at the grocery stores and S.O.S. stickers on packaging identify the participating products, which are Pasqual’s Cantina’s tortilla chips, JBC Coffee Roasters’ special “Local Love” coffee blend (created especially for the S.O.S. Fund), Slide Gourmet Potato Chips, Bunky’s hummus, Banzo’s falafel, Super Charge! Foods’ micro greens and Potter’s Crackers’ Wisconsin Rye and Winter Wheat flavors.
These S.O.S.-supporting products have been available since the beginning of May, and Hopkins says the initial response has been encouraging. “I’m in close contact with Teresa at Bunky’s, and she said last week that she delivered her regular quantity of hummus to the Willy Street Co-ops, and by Thursday they called her and said, ‘We’re out!’ She’s like, ‘That never happens where, two days later, our regular order amount is depleted.'”
Read the entire article on Madison Magazine’s website.