We used to host this empty bowl dinner. It was to raise money for the two food shelves. And it was like a big soup supper. And local potters were invited and they made beautiful bowls. And it was just a great community fundraiser. And it was held every year at the Methodist Church that was like two blocks behind the co-op. And so Karin, the marketing manager, and myself were preparing for this event, shuttling soup over, getting the church all set up for this dinner.

And at one point I ran back over to the co-op to grab some supplies we were missing. And while I'm at the co-op, I hear sirens, but I don't think much of it. And then I walk outside and start walking back toward the church and I can smell and see smoke. And I get to the church and I just, my eyes are so wide and my jaw is hanging open because the church is on fire.

And Karin Mott is standing outside looking at her watch and looking at the building. And I say, Karin, oh my God, what's happened? Well, it's an old gas stove in there. It hadn't been lit in a while. We lit it to try to start heating up some of the soup for the dinner. An old potholder had fallen behind the stove and there was dust and stuff back there and somehow it ignited and started a fire.

And I was like, oh no, okay, I'll start contacting all the ticket holders and let them know we're canceling. And Karin looks at me and says, oh, we're not canceling. We are having this dinner. And I thought she lost her mind—the building's on fire! But she was so determined that we were going to put on this dinner and raise a bunch of money for the food shelves. And she even told the chief of police who came out. She said, “We're having a dinner in here tonight,” and she just left no room for doubt that even the fire department just believed. And they got everything cleared up. They brought in a bunch of fans; they blew all the smoke smell out of the building. We heated the soup. We made it look beautiful in there, and we hosted the dinner.

And it was just a really epic day. We raised a bunch of money for the food shelves, and I think, you know, we could have done the easier thing and just said, yep, you're right, we've got to pack it in, we've got to call everyone and cancel, and we'll just go home and have dinner with our families. But no, there was this will and this drive to see things through. It was so admirable and really marked my time at the co-op, this drive to want to do something beautiful for the community.