The workers for May Day Cafe in Minneapolis’ Powderhorn neighborhood are hosting a unique block party on Oct. 26.
The block party will be both a celebration and a fundraiser. While food, music, live screenprinting, and art will entertain, the real reason is the staff’s ongoing fundraiser to purchase the cafe and transition it into a worker-owner co-op.
In August, the staff announced that owner and baker Andy Lunning was going to step away from the restaurant. Between the fall of 2023, when Lunning told staff, and the launch of the campaign, workers had conversations and organized plans to purchase the Powderhorn institution and transition it to a worker cooperative.
The group hopes to raise $250,000 to “close the gap between our grants and loans and what it will take to buy the business.”
Thus far, the campaign has raised more than $70,000. They say the milestone means they’ve “raised enough money to purchase the building on top of our other financing.”
While that’s a significant benchmark, the cooperative still aims for the $250,000 goal, which will offer working capital and the ability to pay down the mortgage.