KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Community leaders have organized a “cash mob” on Friday at Café Corazón in Kansas City, Missouri, in order to keep momentum from Hispanic Heritage Month going as the month-long celebration comes to an end.
Similar to a flash mob, where people show up in one place to put on an impromptu performance, a cash mob encourages people to all come to one location to spend money and support that business.
Café Corazón is a Latinx-owned coffee shop located at 1721 Westport Road. It's the only place in the area serving traditional Argentinian yerba mate.
Husband and wife Miel and Curtis Herrera own the cafe. Miel has an Argentinian background. Curtis is Mexican and Native American.
They stress the café is a place to celebrate Latinx cultures.
“Since coffee is primarily grown in Latin countries, it’s super important that the people who pick the beans, buy the beans, there’s some acknowledgement about who they are and their cultures and there’s a connection to that,” Miel said. “That’s why we exist.”
Curtis added that businesses representing different cultures need support if they’re going to thrive in a community.
“When you come in here, we’re authentic," he said. "We want to be authentic. If you want that real experience, you need to reach out to those places and support them."
Kiona Sinks organized the cash mob. She hopes the event is so successful the store runs out of coffee Friday.
Her goal is to help the community realize the value of having minority-owned businesses and the need to support them beyond months dedicated to their culture.
“How do we now change the conversation regionally and here in our city about the importance of making sure we’re actively engaging these conversations long-term, not just reacting to the month-by-month and when it’s necessary to do it?" Sinks said. "Which, that’s important too, right? But it’s also important to think about how we continue to move PR to practice."
Café Corazón is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday.
