Abide Coffeehouse & Foundation: Tiny Seed, Big Harvest
We've been adding a lot of new products lately, and since I'm all about the data, the conditionally-color-coded results on the spreadsheet I've affectionately dubbed the "Clam Gram" have been shouting something out to me: the smaller the seed, the greater the harvest. This sounds counterintuitive, but it is the case every time. Sorrel seeds are minuscule, roughly between the size of the period and comma on my keyboard, yet, they yield a harvest (even after only a few weeks) that is many tens of times more than the seeds that have been sown. Pea, not so much! If you've ever eaten peas, you know how big the seeds are. Pea seeds are huge compared to sorrel, however, the harvest we get from our trays of pea is not even double the weight of the seeds we sow. So, why mention it? Because it is symbolic of life in general. Like sowing pea seeds, sometimes we invest a lot into what yields very little, however, at times, like with sowing sorrel seeds, we may offer just a tiny bit of ourselves to something and end up getting much more than we expect in return. This unexpected return is exactly where we found ourselves when we started following Abide Coffeehouse almost a year ago on Facebook and Instagram. Abide is a good neighbor and if being a good neighbor in your local community is important to you, keep reading! This is the story of how we sowed a tiny seed and received—and witnessed—a great harvest in our local community.
BMMG ❤️ Abide
Sowing a Tiny Seed by Following Abide Coffeehouse on Social Media
Let's start at the beginning. We started following Abide Coffeehouse about a year ago because the name of the family that runs Abide kept coming up in our social circles. That's it! That's the tiny seed we sowed—clicking "Follow" on Facebook and Instagram. It was that simple. We weren't crazy fans. Weren't over-the-top invested—financially or with our hearts. Then, Abide's brick-and-mortar store got flooded and extenuating circumstances wreaked havoc on their ability to get back to serving customers in-store. What may have seemed like a blip on the radar at first seemed to quickly spiral out of control when we saw social media posts about necessary major repairs and woes with the insurance company.
Watching Abide Triumph Amidst What Could Have Been A Tragedy
Watching Abide's struggle hit home for us. We've had our fair share of struggles too. Who hasn't, right? Life is not neat and tidy all the time. There are days, weeks, months—even years—when life is messy and it seems as if there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Long story short, via social media, we watched the community rally around Abide Coffeehouse in awe-inspiring ways. We were relieved when nearly two months after "installing a swimming pool" in their shop, the coffeehouse reopened!
A few weeks after Abide Coffeehouse's reopening, they launched Abide Cares, which offers opportunities for neighbors to nominate those they know who are struggling emotionally, financially, or just struggling—period. Offering to help the community in this way really spoke to our hearts and inspired us. We can see Abide's eagerness to serve their community as plain as day and it inspired us to do the same. Our business is small, and we aren't able to immediately help in a capacity like Abide Cares, but we are starting small and are just as eager to expand the positive impact Back Mountain Microgreens has on our community.
In December, when we saw on social media that Abide was looking for vendors to participate in various pop-up shop events in 2024, we thought it'd be a great opportunity for us to join up with Abide—because after closely following their ordeal online, and seeing how they turned lemons into lemonade by using their own harrowing experience to then offer assistance to those who find themselves in similarly stressful circumstances, we felt a bit more tied at the heart and were much more emotionally invested than when we originally clicked the follow button.
Back Mountain Microgreens, a Pop-Up Shop at Abide Coffeehouse on April 6, 2024, from 9 am to 3 pm
We haven't met the family that owns and operates Abide Coffeehouse yet, but we're looking forward to visiting their store on Saturday, April 6th, 2024 when they host our microgreens pop-up shop. We may meet the owners, we may not. It really doesn't matter. Our hearts are singing because by being at Abide we feel as though we're contributing to the wellbeing they offer their community. It's a special thing to be a part of something bigger than just yourself, and we feel like that's what will happen on 4/6/24 when we're at Abide. We'll have microgreens on display, available to sample, and for sale—so stop in, grab a coffee and some microgreens, and sow a little seed for yourself… to contribute to a harvest that will benefit the local community for years to come. Click the image above now to visit the Facebook Event page, click "Going," and share this event with your friends to get the word out!
We look forward to seeing you at Abide!
Sowing a tiny seed months ago, by following Abide on social media, has produced such a great harvest for us on a heart level as we've watched Abide struggle through some trying times then turn around and prioritize helping others through their trying times. Watching these events unfold has been like harvesting a bumper crop of encouragement and inspiration regarding just how much of a positive impact a small business can make in the community. And it seems like Abide isn’t slowing down any! We were happy to see an announcement in early 2024 about the new Abide Foundation and we're excited to see this new charity gain 501c(3) status and take on a life of its own as well. Are you encouraged? It'd be hard not to be encouraged after all of this! If you're inspired to support local businesses with hearts for their neighbors, come say "Hi," on April 6th! 23 W Market St., Wilkes-Barre, PA. We’ll see you there! Can’t make it on the 6th? You can order microgreens for home delivery here.
