Jake has come in and out of my creative life for the past eight years, always with unbridled enthusiasm and an amazing smile on his face. Whenever I hear from him he's about to hop on a plane, give to some great cause or participte in a fantastic project. He's a fire eating wild child, a travelling artist, and a kindred spirit.
Jake's Story:
El Batey is a local grocery store in Echo Park, owned by a Latino family for 30 years. The owner - one of the nicest women I've ever met, and who asked not to have any pictures taken of her, nor her name used - is an Echo Park legend. She knows everyone, and seems to really care about the local community and its well being. The store has great prices, and great selection, but ever since the gentrifrication of Echo Park started several years ago, business has been down. This is due to two issues - 1) the increase of corporate supermarkets (i.e. Vons, Ralphs, 7/11, etc.) throughout the Echo Park area, and 2) the fact that she cannot afford a credit card system, and thus takes cash only. Most of the new residents in Echo Park tend to use their credit cards, and thus she loses out on a ton of business.
My original idea was to give her the $20 towards a credit card system for the store, and put out a donation box for just this purpose. Running the idea by her, she said that she had been saving up for one, but did not want to ask for any type of donations. She is probably one of the most prideful people I've ever met, and thus it is understandable why she would not be comfortable asking for any type of help with this necessity.
After much convincing, she finally did take the $20, and thanked me profusely. It was a great feeling to not only help local, small business, but also a woman that I have grown very close too in a short period of time.
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1 comment:
Sorry this is dated. I saw this storefront on an Allstate Insurance Ad and wanted to prove to myself (again) that one can find almost anything on the internet with a minimal amount of information. In this case, a paused image on a DVR recording. Its a match. I hope the best for this store owner and her business.
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