Monday, March 2 marks the final day of Firestorm Books & Coffee’s Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign. As of the morning of Feb. 25, the collective had raised $11,554 of its $13,000 goal.
For its new space at 610 Haywood Road, the workers’ cooperative plans to use money raised from the campaign to fund the purchase of equipment for a community meeting space, a mural on the side of the building, building hardware and miscellaneous bookstore-café essentials.
More from Firestorm Books & Coffee:
February 20th, 2015 – Firestorm Books & Coffee, a seven year old workers cooperative based in Asheville, today announced that it had been awarded a grant from The Fund for Democratic Communities (F4DC), a Greensboro-based private foundation that “makes grants to groups that engage in participatory democracy to further their social change objectives.” Funds will be awarded to match – dollar-for-dollar – money raised by Firestorm’s ongoing Indiegogo campaign and will be ear-marked for projects that “build and enrich community.”
The Firestorm Collective is currently raising funds to support the Spring opening of a multi-use space at 610 Haywood Road in West Asheville. The new location will house a bookstore, cafe, community event room and shared office. In January, the Center for Participatory Change, a fourteen year old nonprofit, announced its intention to relocate from Downtown Asheville to join Firestorm on Haywood Road. According to Firestorm
Collective members, the cooperative will also house a yet-to-be named nonprofit with a thirteen year history in WNC.
The grant from The Fund for Democratic Communities comes as the Firestorm Collective enters the final week of a $13,000 Indiegogo campaign. Over the next ten days, individuals who contribute $100 or less to the campaign will see their donation matched by the F4DC. These funds will be used to undertake projects at 610 Haywood Road that maximize the utility of the location for grassroots organizations, like The Center for Participatory Change and its community partners. In addition to a previously announced mural project by local artist Dustin Spagnola, Firestorm Collective members are considering proposals for an on-site community garden, language accessibility enhancements to promote bilingual community access and a catalog of A/V equipment to support free and open community events.
Between now and March 2nd, those who donate $25 to Firestorm’s Indiegogo campaign will receive three complimentary cups of Fair Trade coffee in the new cafe, a co-op sticker and an exclusive invitation to a “Community Opening” at 610 Haywood Road, the first look event during which attendees will enjoy complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres, door prizes, discounts and live musical performances.
For more information on the Fund for Democratic Communities and its work to support cooperative development in North Carolina, see http://f4dc.org. For more information on the Center for Participatory Change and its mission to build collective power to create equity in WNC, see http://cpcwnc.org. For more information on Firestorm Books & Coffee and its crowdfunding campaign, see http://firestorm.coop/indiegogo.
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