‘Pay what you can’ Newport coffee shop giving back after community helped them reopen

NEWPORT, Tenn. (WATE) — A Newport coffee shop is opening its doors once again following flooding throughout the area.

Snowbird Mountain Coffee Company is located on Broadway Street. Melissa and Corey Ackerman, the owner of the coffee shop were out of town when the remnants of Hurricane Helene hit Newport . They returned to town a day later to assess the damage.

“Scary. I mean we just have employees, it was just like immediately I was like ‘what are we going to do’,” Melissa Ackerman said.

Some businesses on Broadway Street had to be gutted due to the water damage. The coffee shop had about a foot of water in it according to the Achermans.

“The roaster, because we roast our own coffee, it sustained pretty good damage and then mostly just under counter fridges, ice machine anything like that, that was just on the floor,” Melissa Ackerman said.

The community coming together to help each other rebuild.

“It was just amazing to actually see that in action, the volunteers and people donating because we never could have put this back so quick on our own,” Corey Ackerman said. “We had some days probably 20 people in here just scrubbing and cleaning.”

As the Ackermans reopen their doors, they’re now returning the favor to the same community that helped them get back on their feet.

“For us right now it is just to make sure that people feel loved and that they kind of feel the same community that we feel,” Corey said. “We are doing pay what you can, if you can’t pay that’s fine, we’ll take care of it.”

This pay-what-you-can model has gained attention from people across the country.

“We never intended for this to happen, but what has come as a result of that is that people all over the country are now sending donations to keep this going,” Corey Ackerman said.

“We wanted to do it just to be able to help the community in some small way and then the country and the surrounding communities have just really made it possible for us to do it just for a long while,” Melissa Ackerman added.

The coffee shop will continue the pay-what-you-can model as long as they can sustain it.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side.