Middletown's No Limits Cafe Receives $30,000 Surprise Gift

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A well-known Middletown cafe that employs young people with intellectual disabilities was given a surprise holiday gift this week: A $30,000 donation from Marcus Lemonis, host of CNBC television show "The Profit." Lemonis announced Monday he will buy $30,000 worth of take-out orders to feed those in need who live in the greater Middletown area.

The cafe is No Limits Cafe, located at 418 Highway 35; it was started by Middletown residents Stephanie and Mark Cartier, and inspired by their daughter, Katie, who has Down Syndrome. (Katie is a Middletown South alum and has actually been profiled in this past Patch article.)

The generous donation was announced Monday when the cafe was featured on the "Tamron Hall Show." The Cartiers were completely shocked by the gift; Stephanie promptly burst into tears live on air.

"We had no idea," said Stephanie. "And I'm an ugly crier. When an ugly crier cries, it's even uglier. I can't even tell you how amazing this is."

The Cartiers spent the past few years planning the launch of No Limits Cafe and the business officially opened this year, in what was quite possibly the worst timing ever: Two weeks before the pandemic struck in March.

But this Middleown family is not to be deterred: They and their staff stick to the required 25 percent seating capacity indoors, and also do a bustling lunch and hot beverage take-out business. No Limits Cafe currently employs 30 people and is entirely not for profit.

"Our mission is to empower adults with intellectual disabilities; to give them fulfillment in their lives and show others what they're capable of, which is everything," Stephanie told host Tamron Hall.

Except the Cartiers had no idea they would walk away with $30,000 in guaranteed sales for their small business. Watch; Middletown comes on at minute five:

The way No Limits even got on the "Tamron Hall Show" is also a funny story: The cafe has been on a quest to find hot chocolate bombs, which are all the rage this December. But this past weekend, the phones at the cafe broke. Fortunately, all the cafe's calls are forwarded to Stephanie's cell phone.

"We've been working 12- to 14-hour days on these hot chocolate bombs; we have over 300 orders for them! So there I am at 8:45 last Saturday night in the Michael's parking lot and I see a call from Missouri," she said. "I was on the phone with my sister, and I said 'Oh, it's just spam, I'll ignore it.' Then I thought, wait, it might be for the hot chocolate bombs! So I said, gotta go! Turns out it was 'The Tamron Hall Show.'"

"They said they had been reading our website and they liked what I did. We talked for half an hour and they said would you like to be featured on the show this week, and I said sure," said Stephanie. "I asked her what the show would be about and she said the theme was 'paying it forward.'"

Lemonis started the Lemon-Aid Foundation, where he and his wife have a goal of giving away an incredible $50 million to low-income communities, people who are food insecure and people of color.

Cartier said she heard in the beginning of the show he would be giving away $10,000, but quickly dismissed it and never thought it would go to No Limits.

"It was supposed to be $10,000, but (Lemonis) increased it to $30,000 after hearing our story," she said. "He just decided it. We could not believe it. Thirty thousand dollars is pretty much our operating costs for one month."

The money given by Lemonis has to help provide meals for local people with food insecurity. Lemonis himself has an interesting story. When he was four days old, his birth mother left him on the steps of an orphanage; he was later adopted. He is now a multi-millionaire who said he tries to give back and "kick down doors for people who can't kick down doors for themselves."

"They have great food. The employees are so happy to prepare your food. The atmosphere is great," said Middletown resident Joan Minnuies of No Limits Cafe, in this round-up of the best small businesses in the Middletown area.

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