07/26/2026
Like many of you, I’ve spent the past few days thinking about our community. The shooting of Corey Ruiz has left many people grieving, angry, heartbroken, and searching for answers. I certainly don’t have those answers. I only know that something feels deeply broken, and moments like this remind me how connected we all are to one another.
This week has brought me back to the summer of 2020 and the murder of George Floyd. I remember the relentless heat, the uncertainty, and our team loading sandwiches into our cars to deliver to people gathered downtown. We partnered with Freedom, Inc. because they were already doing work in our community that we believed mattered. We weren’t there to lead, and we certainly didn’t have answers. We simply believed that feeding people was one small way we could care for our neighbors.
Over the years, I’ve come to realize something important. I can’t pretend to know what it feels like to move through the world as a Black person, and I won’t. But I can listen. I can learn. And I can choose how I use this business we’ve built. Businesses make choices every day about where they invest their time, resources, and attention. Those choices are one way we show what we value. I hope you’ll always know ours are rooted in a simple desire to be good neighbors and care for the community we all share.
Our role isn’t to have the right words every time our community hurts. Our role is simply to keep showing up. To welcome people in. To nourish them. To create a place where people are met with kindness and hospitality. Those things don’t fix what is broken, but I believe they still matter.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with every choice we make, and that’s okay. But I do hope you’ll always know why we make them. We’ll keep listening, learning, caring for the people around us, and using this business in ways that reflect the values we believe matter.
