MACON, Ga. — A Macon business owner invested all that he had in his restaurant before it was broken into in July. Now, he wants to thank the community for helping them get back on their feet.
Jonathan Keene thinks he was at the right place at the right time when he stopped at the Shell gas station on Thomaston Road on his way home one day in January.
"I asked what they were doing, they said they were waiting for someone to put a restaurnt in it," Keene said. "I said, 'I wanna put a restaurant in it,' and the very next day I was putting a restaurant in it."
For Keene, he had wanted to start a restaurant for a long time.
"Coincidence, the universe, God-- whatever you wanna put a name to it. This has always been my dream, is to start a restaurant," he said.
He liquidated all of his assets, went all in and Keene's Kafe opened for business in February.
"I knew if I went in, I had to go all in," he said. "I couldn't dip my toes in."
Suddenly, everything was taken from him.
His restaurant wasn't even open for six months when vandals broke in, ransacked, robbed and vandalized his local restaurant and the gas station.
"That’s the crazy part is you can have as many plans in place as you want to but the very next second it can change your life forever," Keene said.
Keene said that burglars took his cafe's cash, the cash register and the safe.
The biggest obstacle — and what hurt the most, he said — was the fact that his inventory and supply had thawed out and was unusable.
"In order to overcome an obstacle, you gotta have sales. In order to have sales, gotta have food," he said. "If they take the food, or ruin the food, it really impacts your success or how you're gonna bounce back."
He called it a "death blow."
Then, through the Macon community, a miracle happened.
A GoFundMe was set up by an admin of the Support Macon Restaurants Facebook Page. It raised more than the $5,000 goal.
"I've never seen that much support, like where the community pulls together to come help," Breakfast Manager Neisha Fry said.
Fry has her own catering business, called High Volume Creations, but started working at Keene's Kafe after was broken into. She said she was always open to working with Keene because they both share a similar passion for food.
"Your blessings get multiplied when you give and give back to others," Fry said.
"If the community rallied behind me — to give me a second chance after a tragic incident — then whatever was left over from that, I wanna put back into the community," Keene said. "The best way I know how to do that is to have some really cool, fun family events."
Keene has big dreams for his small business.
"I just want it to be a hub for the community, families and fun," the father of two said. "Somewhere you can sit for two hours and sip coffee, eat biscuits and hang out with your buds without being rushed... I just want it to be cozy."
But, in the wake of the burglary, they are just thankful to serve the community food every day.
"Our only ask is that you just come eat with us because that one meal a week you switch out from fast food to us keeps us in business," Keene said.
You can join the Party at the Pumps right outside Keene's Kafe from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24. The family-friendly event is free and Keene said to bring lawn chairs and coolers for the tailgate.
Keene's Kafe will have a performance from Michael Ventimiglia aka “Big Mike” from Big Mike and the Booty Poppas and Middle Georgia Inflatables LLC.
Keene's will be selling $3 burgers and $1 hot dogs, and Peanut's Peanuts from Hartley Bridge will also be there selling peanuts at the tailgate, too