You won’t find the crew of Cafe Moxo behind the usual red and black bar, but they’re still working on the clock across Springfield.
You’ll find the 12 men and women who used to man the coffee station and sandwich bars now at St. John’s Breadline, Washington Street Mission, Contact Ministries and several elementary schools across the district.
Ever since the fire on June 19 at 413 E. Adams St., the employees of Cafe Moxo have been volunteering five days a week at local food shelters and the Compass for Kids School program at four different schools in Springfield. Working five days a week three-to-four hours a day, each employee has racked up more than 100 service hours giving back to Springfield.
Mark Forinash, the owner of Cafe Moxo said following the fire, he decided to make sure no jobs were lost in the devastation. Despite the store being closed possibly until the end of year to re-open, Forinash has been continuing to pay all his employees full time biweekly – forgoing a paycheck himself.
Forinash said the idea for volunteer work was to help his coworkers have something to do to keep moving, while also supporting the community that has been keeping Cafe Moxo the active part of downtown for over a decade.
On Thursday mornings, Kevin Thomas and Luke Murphy aren’t chopping onions or fitting on salami lids; the two are hard at work in Ridgely Elementary packing bags full of canned soups, vegetables, fruits and snacks.
“The best part is feeling like I’m doing something,” Thomas, who has been with Moxo for over six years said. “The best experience is the schools for me working around kids… Filling up the bags you’re brightening a kids day with Rice Krispies and fruit snacks. I’ve got kids, so I get a kick out of that.”
In total, they’ll produce around 110 bags in an hour and a half, along with three teams doing the same at other schools, as part of Compass for Kids summer school program.
Founded in 2011 by Molly Berendt with the Douglas Avenue United Methodist Church, the Compass for Kids nonprofit provides academic and social-emotional support to empower children and families underserved in the Springfield-area schools.
The three different programs offered are volunteer-driven and since 2019 has worked in partnership with District 186 Springfield Public Schools to expand their summer Camp Compass.
The team has tackled cooking classes at Contact Ministries for mothers, food preparation at the breadline and even mold at St. Martin De Porres on South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive; giving eye-opening experiences to the needs the city still has.
“I actually didn’t go in just because I’m allergic to mold and didn’t risk it,” Murphy said. “(St. Martin) does great things for the community out there, it just goes to show the city itself in lacking the communities. If that place had better funding they wouldn’t have that issue.”
Not every boss would continue paychecks after their store closes – and Forinash is absolutely an outlier.
Forinash says he's grateful for the donations made through the INB fund which were distributed on July 15, and he'll continue to make sure his staff is paid until he reaches the ticking time bomb for the business when pay can’t feasibly keep going.
“It’s been kind of up and down because we’re going day by day how things are looking with the building,” Reese Parquette, who was a driver with Moxo said. “We’ll meet with Mark and get general updates but then there will be weeks where we don’t have an update. It’s a roller coaster ride, but it’s been positive.”
When asked about the potential of opening a partial location with a kitchen and dining area, Forinash didn’t respond to the immediate future, but said the idea has not been dismissed by the crew.
“I miss it you know, the week the fire happened I had one of those moments at home of nostalgia I won’t go back to Moxo how it was,” Murphy said. “It made me really sad. But then I got really hopeful now we’re talking about the future and all building to design (the future cafe) and make it exactly how we want.”
Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@gannett.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted
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