LOGAN, Utah — A local coffee shop in Cache County is known for helping people in need, but this time, they needed help, and the community showed up.
On Dec. 6, a tree fell on the building with Cache Coffee’s roaster and other equipment inside.
“It broke six rafters, went through the roof, the 20-foot log came down through the roof into the roasting place,” said Jamie Buttars, a co-owner of Cache Coffee.
Even though the tree that fell with the high wing did not hit the equipment, it still damaged the structure.
"The average small business owner can’t just pull $15,000 out and be like, 'Kay here, just fix my roof now,'” Buttars said.
Jamie and Mindie Buttars are known for helping people who are struggling. They host Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for people who don’t have anywhere else to go, they are a safe space for veterans to gather and lock up their guns if they need to, and they even placed flags around Logan for two fallen officers, Sgt. Lee Sorenson and Officer Eric Estrada of the Tremonton-Garland Police Department.
It's already been a tough year for business.
"This year with the tariffs and stuff on coffee, it’s been a little rougher because we’ve tried not to raise our prices because we want to make our customers happy, so we’ve been eating the margins,” Jamie said.
Jamie said when the tree fell, they didn’t even need to ask for help.
“From the time I noticed the tree and I did the Facebook post, two-and-a-half hours later, the tree was gone,” Jamie said. “You couldn’t even tell, other than a few logs laying around."
Jamie said insurance denied covering their claims. It was supposed to be under their home insurance because they have gardening supplies in there, but since the roaster is part of the business, they have to cover it themselves.
But the community that they've built stepped up to help. Josh Perryman with High Ridge Framing is Jamie’s friend, and he brought a crew to fix the rafters.
"I don't know the cost,” said Jamie. “I asked him and he wouldn’t tell me; he said we'd figure it out later.”
Stacey Perryman is Josh’s wife.
"The money is really not important,” she said. “What’s important is that we had good weather, we had the people to do it to get in and get it taken care of. I think that’s one of the beautiful things of living in a small community: when bad things happen to good people, the community is there to rally behind and do whatever it takes."
Jamie said they are still about halfway to their goal to pay for all the repairs, and again, people stepped up to help.
Korey Reid brought his New York-style hot dog cart — Utah Dirty Dogs — in front of Cache Coffee on Sunday and donated the proceeds.
"Honestly, the community showed up so quick that I was like, physically, there’s not much I can do to move the tree because it's already gone,” Reid said. "To see people tip so generously, buying a $6 hot dog, I really knew it was about them... I was just glad to be there as a way to bring in some more revenue for them."
"It’s pretty amazing to see the support we have, and when people walk through the door, it’s just been awesome,” Jamie added.
Anyone who wants to donate can do so via Venmo: venmo.com/u/cachecoffee.
But Jamie said they hope people support the business and buy their products online or in person.
