Wannawaf Reaches $20K Goal, Will Reopen in Boothbay

Anya Arsenault, aka Waffle Girl. [Photo: Go Fund Me]

Wannawaf will waffle on. Anya Arsenault's waffle and ice cream shop reached its $20,000 Go Fund Me goal last night (pledges are at $21,865 as of this morning), so Wannawaf will be able to reopen its seasonal Boothbay Harbor store this summer and avert bankruptcy. The Boothbay location has always been profitable, but a failed expansion into Portland put the entire business in jeopardy. Arsenault described her humble plea for crowd-sourced help as a "Hail Mary." In 19 days, 236 supporters made contributions. She was pretty happy when the goal was met.

While there are plenty of critics of the crowd-sourced funding model (let the Millennials fail!), it's tough not to like this story. Waffles may not have flown in Monument Square (not much has worked in that location), but the folks of Boothbay Harbor (and elsewhere on the World Wide Web) rallied around a business that needed help. By reaching the goal last night, the town police chief will serve waffles dressed as a superhero for a night. And, unlike other Kickstarter-type campaigns in which a $100 donation gets you a virtual high-five, Wannawaf offered rewards that had value comparable to the donation (i.e., a $25 pledge got a $25 gift card).
· Are we Going to Waffle On? [Go Fund Me]
· Wannawaf [Facebook]
· All Coverage of Wannawaf [~EMAINE~]