Coffee Shop Owner Closes Her Own Store To Help Competitor Dying of Cancer
Most times when a company starts up, they keep an eye out for their competition. Even between the most amicable of rivalries, it’s rare to see someone go well out of their way to help another business.
But this is about more than a business.
Pixie Adams runs Moonlight Coffeehouse in Oak Grove, Oregon. Dave and Tina McAdams opened up “The Local Coffee Company” earlier this year nearby.
Before Dave and Tina opened their shop, though, they got to know Adams (and vice versa) and became good friends — perhaps in part because Dave and Pixie had both beaten cancer.
While Dave beat cancer the first two times, doctors gave him a grim prognosis in recent weeks, saying he had about two months to live.
“For those of you who may not have heard, Dave’s battle with cancer has come to a point where modern medicine can not do anything more than keep him comfortable,” The Local Coffee Company shared on Dec. 1. “He’s home on palliative/hospice care and we’re cherishing every moment we have with him.”
“We wanted to provide an opportunity for him to be LovedDeeply in return before be goes to be in the arms of our Savior—and of course, we’re still hoping and praying for a great big miracle—we want God to show off!!”
It was tough to manage their finances, and Dave’s illness definitely impacted their work. Adams knew that pain.
“Being a small business, we generally don’t have a lot of financial reserves,” Adams told Inside Edition. “We don’t have paid time off. The worry is, what happens if we get sick, or something happens to us, there isn’t a big safety net. It was important to me to do something that would financially help them.”
So, as an act of goodwill toward her friends and competition, Adams shut down her shop for a day and worked for free at The Local Coffee Company instead.
“Yesterday, our family here at Moonlight Coffeehouse had the opportunity to serve another local coffee shop in our community who’s owner is in hospice care for a terminal cancer diagnosis,” The Moonlight Coffeehouse shared on Dec. 12. “Our owner Pixie Adams spent the entire day working for The Local Coffee Company for FREE as she hosted Moonlight Takes Over The Local Coffee Co Fundraiser to help raise money for owners Dave McAdams and Tina McAdams!”
“There were HUNDREDS of responses on our social media and The Local had the highest sales day in their history! We had cars lined up almost the ENTIRE day! There was thousands of dollars raised to help support The Local and pay for medical expenses! To say it was an incredible success is an understatement!”
“There aren’t words enough to express how grateful we are for the chance to be there for another brave cancer warrior and help keep their beautiful small business successful while they savor their remaining time together. Dave and Tina, you have all our love! <3 <3 <3 And to our Community…..you make doing what we do a privilege and an honor. Thank you for your never-ending support! <3 <3 <3.”
“I feel like it’s so easy to get caught up in the competition in business,” Adams said. “I wanted to do something for them that I knew was going to make a difference in more than a superficial way. To me, it will always be community over competition, and friendship over business.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
