We’re mad, and we’re not going to take it anymore! What am I talking about? All too often lately, we’ve heard about beloved or have had to .
As a community, the loss of these places is deeply felt. These are our friends, our neighbors. They are places that we visit regularly, just like Cheers where everybody knows our name. Small businesses like these are a big part of a small town’s character, not to mention its economic health.
So what’s to blame? The economy? Poor business model? Construction clogging up our streets and making downtown an unwelcome place to shop?
Rather than speculate or pass around the blame, I choose to believe in our community. There’s a reason I live in Castro Valley — I love it! Small-town charm, friendly people, plus I so I have lots of . I put on my thinking cap — what can I, average resident, do to help?
After talking with some other community members ( of CV Legends and Susan Soares with the Chamber), we decided to tap into a nationwide movement and create a Cash Mob.
A Cash Mob is like a Flash Mob, but instead of scaring people with our singing and dancing, we are pledging to join together and spend $20 at a local business.
The key to this is to pick a small business that is locally owned and in desperate need of cash. For this first mob, we’ve selected one San Lorenzo business and one Castro Valley business. If the community rallies and shows its support, we can have more cash mobs, maybe once a month. Maybe even expand to Ashland and Cherryland! (Whew!)
Between the communities of San Lorenzo and Castro Valley, we have 84,840 potential residents who can chip in. If every resident of all ages chipped in at least $20 to ONE business this year, do you know what an impact we could have? We could contribute $1,696,800 to our local businesses! A $1.7 million impact for your $20 contribution is a pretty big bang for your buck.
Now here’s what you can do to participate. March 24, 2012 has been designated National Cash Mob Day, and over 170 Cash Mobs will be taking place across the country and around the world.
The San Lorenzo Cash Mob will be from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and from noon to 2 p.m. in Castro Valley. If you can’t make it during that time, just try to make it to one or both locations at some point in the day. We will reveal the locations early next week (gotta leave some suspense!).
Please spread the word, email your friends, connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (links below). Part of the fun is building community and meeting new people, and we can’t do this without your help! Let's see what our communities can do to help our one-of-a-kind local businesses.
Cash Mob Castro Valley
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cash-Mob-Castro-Valley-CA/201213983316163
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/CashMobCV
- Email: cashmobcv@gmail.com
Cash Mob San Lorenzo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cash-Mob-San-Lorenzo-CA/289821354419328
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/CashMobSLZ
- Email: cashmobslz@gmail.com
