Chapter 39: Not Enough

“D*mn! We re-counted the jar money and our net from the online sales; I guess it just seemed like we had more than we had, but really we only nickel and dimed it. And with volunteers from the parish picking up the slack, we were always able to meet the demand, even when it increased due to the day old goods. What are we going to do?” Faye exclaimed, her worry written all over her face.

“Rachel and I met with some wealthy people, but maybe they were just being polite to entertain our concern for the bakery,” Arthur rationalized then continued. “They took our time, but didn’t help out financially with a contribution. Here, look at the spreadsheet,” he said, pulling out his laptop. “All of that research was for naught. My search for a new investor was in vain. Rachel’s grassroots giving jars and online campaign, along with finding a market for the day old items and running on volunteer labor made the real difference.”

“I guess. If only we had more time. If only...how could so much passion fail for such a worthy cause?” Rachel said, with as deep a degree of worry as the others.

Arthur started to praise Rachel to try to boost her spirits, but given the rawness of the reality that they did not raise enough to reach their goal, the mood was profoundly dismal. He could not cheer for Rachel, who was young enough to start over, instead of finding a way to comfort or counsel Faye, who was going to lose the business she had given her all to for the past two decades.

Rachel, on the other hand, was glad for the recognition from the volunteers, Arthur and Faye, although visibly frustrated. But now, she was even considering making an anonymous donation. The bakery saved her at one of her darkest times. She was more than happy to help. Even if her heart was in the right place, she was very aware of what the risks were for her in doing that. She agreed to say a few words as the organizer of the fundraising.

“Thanks everyone. Thank you for donating your time, treasure, and talent to this fundraising effort which we affectionately know as “Project Donut”. The deadline is tomorrow morning. And I believe in miracles. I believe that this is not over until it’s over. This for us means that it does not have to end until we have exhausted every option and creatively overturned every stone up to the moment they put locks on the doors and boards on the windows. We made it halfway there when no one thought that was possible. That is better than it was when we first started this project. Do not regret that we did not succeed with raising enough money. Remember that we succeeded because of people like you that made a commitment and saw it through. For that, we are grateful and forever in your debt.”

She paused for a moment to compose herself and then continued, “We can use this to our benefit, show our profits, and still ask for an extension and not stop asking the chain of command at the bank until we get one. We can continue to leave out the giving jars; maintain our online business that repurposes our high quality baked goods at a discounted price; and hopefully we can continue to count on volunteers to help us to meet demand as it continues to grow and morphs into markets that we never would have thought of. No dream is too small. As long as there is a Clovelly, there will be a bakery to serve our community and those new supporters that we have started to serve. Thank you. I am in your debt for your service.”

Faye called out, “That’s my girl!”

A catalyst for the group, Rachel’s goal with her speech was to change their mood from sadness to excitement, from focusing on hopelessness to feeling proud of what they were able to achieve by volunteering.

The three of the big four came to the center of the store, where Rachel was standing, and surrounded her in a group hug. She was so caught up in the moment that she failed to see or hear a photographer snap their picture.

Faye and Rachel wanted to give them all something back for their tireless help, no matter how hurt and worried they both were about the outcome. Thinking this would be their last night in the bakery, Faye allowed them each to choose a baked good that they wanted and accept a pencil with the word “volunteer baker” on the side.

Those volunteers who were present exchanged kind words with each other. They took a brave cue from the bakery’s leadership, Faye and Rachel. They came together to boost morale. What they did for others by lifting the weird mood in what was arguably a true community organization effort, they did for themselves. If only they had four more weeks, who knows? But as it stood, they only reached 50% of their goal and half was not enough. They would need a miracle to raise in one night what they were able to raise in four weeks.

They also recognized the sad reality: it was tonight that things ended and possibility made a permanent pause. They were meeting to say goodbye to each other, these new friends who became dedicated volunteers around a common cause. Although some of them would meet to take the money they raised to the bank in the morning, they realized that after that formality, there would now be a hole in part of Clovelly and in their hearts. They had no reason to celebrate; however, they needed to meet to have closure. They did not regret the time and the effort they put into the project; they just wish they had been able to do more.

After pondering it, weighing the pros and cons, and speaking words to these people, once strangers, now friends, she decided that she would definitely become that “new investor” that Arthur searched for and spoke of. But she wanted to remain a secret investor of the other 50% needed to reach their goal. To do so she would access one of her old accounts that would slip by hopefully unnoticed by her father or his associates. She would ask the bank to wire the money to the local bank where the bakery’s business account was, then make an anonymous online donation to Faye’s business.

She had to pretend until tomorrow to be upset that they failed. Tomorrow morning they would take the money from all of the grassroots giving jars and deposit it, then include the online money. At that time Faye would get a well-deserved surprise.