Vegan and raw food café RAWvolution at 2301 Main Street in Santa Monica has succeeded in raising the funds needed to keep its lease thanks to overwhelming support from the surrounding community.
To raise the $30,000 needed, a “Save Rawvolution” campaign was started on Indiegogo to spread awareness and garner support throughout Santa Monica.
Thanks to Main Street’s reputation as Santa Monica’s “Vegan Corridor” for its high concentration of vegan restaurants and cold-pressed juice companies such as Mainsqueeze and Moon Juice, it wasn’t long before people started responding.
“Los Angeles has a thriving and vibrant raw, vegan food scene and its fans are active and enthusiastic supporters of RAWvolution and the other grassroots businesses that have helped catalyze this movement,” said Janabai Amsden, co-owner of RAWvolution.
Café Gratitude, a popular vegetarian and vegan restaurant located in Venice, was among the first to take action.
The café posted its support of RAWvolution on its Facebook and Twitter pages, put up posters in the restaurant and even pledged to donate the profits from its bestselling “Gratitude” bowls sold during the first week in March.
Though Café Gratitude is often considered RAWvolution’s greatest competitor, General Manager Ryland Engelhart said, “We stand for community not competition. Win win, when we make our lives about service to the whole we all can rise together.”
Due to Café Gratitude’s support and the overwhelming response of Santa Monica locals via Indiegogo and otherwise, Café Gratitude’s donations were not needed to save RAWvolution.
The money Café Gratitude raised for RAWvolution has instead been donated to supply fresh local organic produce to Bread and Roses, the homeless food program on Rose Avenue.
“At RAWvolution, we are so grateful for the community support we have received and the difference it will make to our cafe and the people we joyfully serve,” said Amsden.
