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Community Corner

The Charity Must Go On

Coffee shop manager stands behind his commitment to serve the community, even in less-than-ideal circumstances.

The first-ever Scotts Valley Corners chili cook-off, designed to benefit the Valley Churches United Mission, faced a few challenges Sunday. Despite efforts by Surf City Coffee manager Sean Mayberry, the charity event had a small turnout.

The relentless downpours that pounded the area over the weekend may have played a role.

"The weather definitely played into it some," Mayberry said. He speculated that downed trees on Highway 9, blocking both routes into Scotts Valley, may have been one reason for the light attendance.

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In addition, Mayberry says the fact that one franchise owner in the Scotts Valley Corners business complex chose not to participate caused him to have to change the event at the last minute.

"This meant I had to make [the chili cook-off] unofficial and bring it all inside, instead of the big thing that had been planned for outside with the music and everything else," Mayberry said.

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The need to make things "unofficial" also may have affected the number of chili entries. There were originally slated to be at least 10 professional and amateur participants, including Bruno's BBQ, The Trout Farm and Jared Malas of the Scotts Valley Market. But word of the impending change of plans caused participation to wane. In total, there were only three chili entries.

This, however, did not stop Mayberry's community spirit.

"I told everybody that this is going to be scaled down, but we're still going to welcome everybody inside the doors," Mayberry said.

He enacted the contingency plan of an inside event, made his own batch of chili and rallied the support of his family and friends.

One of the chili contributors was Mayberry's father, Randy Jones.

"I'm impressed that my son has a community spirit and a social awareness and is trying to help people less fortunate," Jones said. "And that's why I brought my chili."

Mayberry's stepfather, David St. John, who also made a chili, agreed with Jones.

"This valley has a very special community feeling to it," St. John said. "To me, it's fabulous to see him being so community oriented." 

Though it was a small turnout, those in attendance said there was no charity more deserving than Valley Churches.

"I think it's a great idea to give money to Valley Churches, because it's probably the best charity around here," said Vicky St. John, Mayberry's mother. "They help people in the community. You can see that it makes a difference. With Sean doing this … we think it's great."

Those who attended were happy to contribute. Surf City employee Mike Golan showed up during his day off.

"I think it's good when businesses unite to help charity," he said, as he dropped some money into the donation box.

"I think it's a good thing for promotion," said Scotts Valley resident Bri Wright, who also attended the event.

Regardless of the low turnout, at the end of the day, Mayberry said he was pleased with the overall impact of the event.

"You know, I'm still proud of what I was able to accomplish here today," he said.

"We gathered over a half barrel's full of food donations and raised over $100 in cash," all of which will be donated to VCUM.

Annett Marcum, director of VCUM, said that the money will be put to good use.

"People are hungry all year long," she said. She added that she likes to see when companies participate in helping the community.

For information on donating to Valley Churches United Missions, visit vcum.org.

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