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Erin Burke, left, and Pat McMurry serve food to customers Saturday on Eighth Street during the Love Coffee Crawfish Boil. The event raised funds for Love Coffee’s initiative to employ people with disabilities.
Colin Freeman’s bib flaps in the wind Saturday on Eighth Street. “I’m here to support a good cause, and I love what they do to give back to the community,” Freeman said.
Families stood at white tablecloth-clad tables and sipped drinks Saturday afternoon outside the Tiger Hotel as children hopped from hay bale to hay bale while waiting for Cajun crawfish, potatoes and corn to be served.
The inaugural Love Coffee crawfish boil took place from 4 to 9 p.m. and closed a block of Eighth Street between Cherry Street and Broadway.
Erin Burke, left, and Pat McMurry serve food to customers Saturday on Eighth Street during the Love Coffee Crawfish Boil. The event raised funds for Love Coffee’s initiative to employ people with disabilities.
The Columbia coffeeshop provides job opportunities and training to people with disabilities. The proceeds of the event go toward supporting Love Coffee’s mission.
Pat McMurry, executive director of Love Coffee, explained that the Cajun theme of the fundraiser represented a fusion of cultures and unlikely people coming together to create something larger than the sum of its parts. This sentiment resonates with the mission of the coffeeshop, McMurry said.
“It’s this idea of stretching to meet somebody you wouldn’t normally meet,” McMurry said. “Going out of your way to create an intentional relationship and then being surprised and inspired by meeting somebody different.”
The crawfish boil was funded by sponsors including Hawthorn Bank, EquipmentShare, Shelter Insurance and more than a dozen more. Tickets ranged between general admission and VIP. At the VIP tables, red tablecloths topped with colorful feathers in gold vases gave the section a New Orleans flair.
McMurry said the Tiger Hotel played a major role in making the event happen, including sponsoring and catering the fundraiser. Cameron Bevan, executive chef of Glenn’s Cafe and the Tiger Hotel, prepared to serve between 350 and 500 people.
“It’s crawfish, a really fantastic andouille sausage, there’s green onions, corn on the cob, potatoes, the works,” Bevan said. “It’s a very traditional sort of boil, but I put my own spin on it.”
Buckets of boiled potatoes and shrimp were stacked behind the serving tables as the volunteers and organizers set up. Serving trays piled high with corn and seafood quickly attracted a line.
Columbia resident Sean Nevills excitedly awaited dinner with his wife, Tanika. Nevills said he is a regular customer at Love Coffee and came out to the event because he loves both their cause and Cajun food.
“I support Love Coffee because I support their mission of giving individuals with disabilities the opportunity for gainful employment and the opportunity to give to the community like everybody else,” Nevills said.
A stage was set up at one end of the block, and local bands Soul Sessions and Cat Daddy’s jazzy chords and rhythms could be heard throughout downtown. Toward the other end of the block, a face-painting station was set up for children and adults alike — McMurry got his face painted as an orange and yellow tiger.
Ali Freeman, a Columbia local, brought her family to the event in an effort to support the coffeeshop.
“I love their mission and their cause, and I always leave (Love Coffee) feeling happy,” she said.
McMurry said the fundraiser, which used the hashtag #COMOMOJO, was about raising awareness as much as it was about raising money.
“We’re defining ‘CoMo Mojo’ as the way Columbia cooperates to care for one another,” McMurry said. “That’s what this is all about.”
Colin Freeman’s bib flaps in the wind Saturday on Eighth Street. “I’m here to support a good cause, and I love what they do to give back to the community,” Freeman said.
This Columbia barista overcame many challenges to achieve a life of independence.
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I am a senior at the University of Missouri Columbia studying Photojournalism and Social Media. I am working as a photojournalist and documentarian as part of my class curriculum and experience.
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Assistant city editor, fall 2022. Reach me at kristinkuchno@mail.missouri.edu, or in the newsroom at 882-5700.
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