Bennet's Book Store Fundraiser in Deep River

DEEP RIVER, CT — Ninety-one individuals have donated a total of $6,002 to the Bennet's Books fundraiser, which has an ultimate goal of raising $15,000.

According to a recent post on the store's Facebook page, Bennett’s Books founder and owner Colin Bennett is very happy with how the fundraising is going. He thanks those who have donated and urges others to do so.

Bennet put out a personal, heartfelt thank you to the community that is supporting his efforts. He said he is very thankful for all donations. "Every little bit helps," he said.

Meeting 40 percent of the goal is a huge milestone for Bennet and has given him confidence that Bennet's Books will meet the 100 percent goal soon.

He writes in his fundraiser ask, "Twenty, twenty has been a rough year for us in a lot of ways. Like so many other small businesses we’ve really been struggling. To be honest, there was a point earlier this year when we seriously considered closing our doors for good. Through a lot of hard work, persistence, and sheer stubbornness, we managed to push on, without any government loans or bailouts, and Bennett’s Books is about to celebrate our 6-year anniversary! That said, without your help, we won’t survive another year. As such, we are asking for your help. Considering our financial situation (almost entirely due to Covid19) in order to keep going we need to raise a significant amount of money."

He adds, "If you’re wondering why you should support a small business with a donation, it’s because we’re so much more than just another small business. In the six years we’ve been in existence, we’ve truly dedicated ourselves to helping our community and helping the world. In addition to providing extremely affordable books. Here are some of the things we’ve accomplished:
We created and host, the Deep River Freedge - one of the only community refrigerators in the state, accessible 24 hours a day.
We created and host, our ‘Little Free Pantry’ - one of the state’s only free pantries, also accessible 24 hours a day.
We provided thousands of dollars in paid internships.
We have given more than $1000 in scholarships to local high school students.
We donated thousands of dollars to local community groups and other non-profits.
We have collected thousands of pounds of food for local food pantries.
We organized and sponsored first-ever Deep River Pride Festival in 2019 and the 2020 Deep River Pride Celebration.
We have hosted dozens of community events.
We rescued a puppy from the pound and adopted her as our bookstore doggo.
We reclaimed more than a hundred square feet of parking lot and turned it in to a pollinator garden.
You can read more about what we’ve been up to here: Bennett's Books In The News
Because of extremely heavy personal and business losses this year we have to raise a significant amount of money in order to stay open. This is especially true as it seems very unlikely at this point (because of the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic) that business will improve any time in the near future. As such, our minimum fundraising goal is $15,000 - that will allow us to stay open and will allow us to continue to serve our community and to help make the world a better place. If we can raise more than that, we’ll be able to do more (as listed below).
We really want to continue and we hope that you see value in what we do and are willing to support us. By doing so, you’ll not only be helping support a bookstore, you’ll be making an investment in a better future.
If we raise $15,000 it will guarantee another year at our current location with similar hours. We’ll also be able to offer free memberships to low-income children and families in the region.
If we raise $25,000 it will guarantee another year at our current location with expanded hours - we could essentially become a full-time bookstore. It would also allow us to offer more community events and programming.
If we raise $100,000 it would allow us to buy a building and ensure our long-term survival. We would be able to organize and host many, many more events. We would also be able to hire full-time staff.
If we raise $1,000,000 it would allow us to create one of the largest bookstores in the world (seriously!) which would be just about the coolest thing ever. This is actually our long-term goal. If we can survive the next year, this is something we plan on working on."

For more information or to donate go to Donate Now.