Palmer Downtown Deli pledges 100 percent of profits through Christmas to earthquake relief

PALMER— From now until Christmas Day, 100 percent of the profits made at the Palmer Downtown Deli will go towards organizations dedicated to earthquake relief. Owner Kevin Brown said that he and his staff are staying the course to support Palmer and surrounding Mat-Su Valley no matter what.

“We just are. We’ll just tighten our belts as much as we can,” Brown said.

Brown clarified that the deli will donate 100 percent of the profits, not revenue, which of course for a small business is still fairly substantial, especially for such a long duration.

In addition to donating the profits, Brown placed a bucket inside the café for customers to make cash donations. He said that that he had to empty the bucket twice on Dec. 1, the first day of his fundraiser.

“This is Alaska. You ask people to step up they do,” Brown said.

Brown recalled how he came up with the idea, saying that he and his staff were at the deli early in the morning, prepping their meals for the day. He said that as they were setting up, the 7.0 earthquake hit.

“The floors began flipping like the ocean and it didn’t stop,” Brown said.

Brown said that no one inside was injured and there was no major damage. The deli shut down for the rest of the day. He said once he got home, he found his house was unscathed, finding only one broken glass. He said that his “biggest problem” was trying to coax his nervous cat out of its hiding place so he felt incredibly blessed.

“I prayed like I haven’t prayed in a long time. I said thank you God,” Brown said.

After he finished his prayer, he said that’s when he started brainstorming ideas on how to help others who were not as fortunate as him. He said that his first idea was to allocate 100 percent of the profits on Dec. 1 but he felt that wasn’t enough and decided to multiply one day by 25. On Nov. 30, around 3:30 p.m., he took to Facebook to announce his decision.

“…The Lord has been incredibly generous to me and mine, and we will give back. It appears that every one of my staff members is safe. My family is safe. Our building bent and bowed but it did not break. We were protected, my staff and me, as we stood there in our kitchen. You’ll never convince me otherwise,” Brown wrote on the deli’s Facebook page.

Brown said that he was pleasantly shocked at how fast the post spread and the subsequent outpour of support from the community on the first day of the fundraiser. He said that by the time he went to bed on Friday night, about eight hours after the initial post, 19,900 people saw the post and by 6 p.m. the following day, the number jumped to over 46,000 people. He said that so far, Saturday was the busiest day of the year, even busier than Small Business Saturday.

“We were packed,” Brown said.

Brown shared several anecdotes from philanthropic customers, offering as much as they could. He said that people were lined up at the door most of the day and most people were told it would be a 30-minute wait and remained undeterred.

“I know that people have been through a lot and the recovery is going to be long and hard and painful but we are all in this together,” Brown said.

Brown said that one customer asked which item hiked up the biggest profit. He told them it was their Alaska Glacier Water, LLC water bottles. The customer said they didn’t have much to spend, bought 10 bottles, dispersed them around the deli and as they were leaving with one bottle left, said, “I’ll be back!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of my community,” Brown said. “That’s why I love what I do.”

Brown bought the Palmer Downtown Deli almost three years ago. He said this was one of the busiest days for his crew on record. He continually praised his staff, saying that they were all exhausted but handled the flow proficiently, patiently and professionally.

Brown said that he is still searching for the appropriate charities that focus on relief funds, particularly here in the Mat-Su Valley and he encouraged the public to reach out with their ideas. He said that he already decided to help the local food banks and the Mat-Su Special Santa program.

Brown said that after 16 shots of espresso and hardly anything to eat, save some snacks of steak bits, he is very tired but very happy with how the first day went. He said that his crew is fast approaching Colony Christmas, which typically is the busiest day of the year.

“I don’t expect it’s going to slow down. I expect it to pick up,” Brown said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com