JOYCE — Donations poured in after a break-in at Joyce’s Blackberry Cafe in which a scholarship fund was stolen in March.
And then they kept coming.
Blackberry Cafe customers — and some who had never eaten there before — from across the state had donated $4,233 as of Sunday to “Andy’s Fund,” a scholarship fund honoring the life of Andrew Hinrichs, a former cook who died in a wreck last year.
“I’m almost at tears right now because we had no idea people would come out and support like this,” said Blackberry Cafe owner Roxanne Olsen, adding she wants to thank everyone who showed support.
“If I wrote that many thank-you notes, I don’t think I’d have enough Kleenex to wipe up the tears.”
On March 3, a burglar stole $183 from a donation jar at the restaurant.
After the burglary, Olsen was so fed up with thefts that she was going to put away her donation jar.
But then customers kept looking for the jar, she said.
“It was just an overwhelming response when a little business had some difficulty,” she said. “It was kindness beyond anything we thought could ever happen.”
While she is thankful for all the donations that have poured in, there were two that just blew her away.
Olsen said she was in tears after receiving a $1,000 check and a $500 check.
“It’s something I couldn’t do, so when they handed me checks like that I just was speechless,” she said.
“It’s kindness beyond anything I thought would ever happen.”
She has kept the notes that people left with their donations and is starting a scrapbook for Andrew Hinrichs. It will have photos of Hinrichs, newspaper clippings and the letters that came in, she said.
Olsen already keeps a scrapbook for all her employees, but said Andy’s Fund has received so much attention it needs to have its own scrapbook.
During the burglary, the thief used one of the rocks she uses as decoration outside to smash through the glass on her front door.
The thief evaded the security measures she had in place and stole all the money from the donation jar.
Since the burglary, Olsen has said she would not be put any of the donated money back into her business. She wanted to pay for the broken door herself so that all the donations could go into the scholarship fund.
She said the men that repaired her door volunteered their time to repair it. Joyce residents often tell her they are watching for any strange vehicles at the restaurant at odd hours in the night, she said.
The money is going into the Joyce Community Dollars for Scholars fund, which is overseen by a scholarship committee.
It will be used to help fund scholarships for graduating seniors in Joyce over the next few years, she said.
“The school called me and one of the lades was almost in tears because she said money like that hadn’t come into the school for quite some time,” she said.
Though Olsen vowed in March that she no longer have a donation jar, she has decided to leave it on her counter.
The difference is that now, she empties it every night before she leaves.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office lists the case as open, but is no longer actively investigating the burglary.
More than two months after the burglary, Olsen is no longer concerned with figuring out who did it, she said.
“People do come in and ask if the culprits have been caught, and I say I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter at this point,” she said.
“It all turned around into quite a positive thing and it’s going to benefit kids for quite some time.”
________
Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
