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Vagabond Coffee In Hemming Park Broken Into; Community Responds To Help

  A coffee stand was broken into Thursday night in downtown Jacksonville’s Hemming Park. But Vagabond Coffee Company owner Will Morgan says the stand will come back better than ever.

Morgan was notified about the break in around 7 a.m. Friday by a regular customer. He got the message on Facebook.

Morgan said, “Somebody was walking through the park and they snapped a picture and said, ‘Hey, I just want to give you a heads up. I’m not sure if you saw this yet.’ And that started the morning.”

The picture showed the vintage travel trailer that houses the business with its front window smashed in. Someone broke in and stole a small amount of cash. The trailer sits at the entrance to the park on the corner of Laura and Adams Streets.

Chance Gerisch operates the Bono’s Bar-B-Q food truck in the park five days a week.

“It’s a shame that one person is gonna ruin it for everybody,” Gerisch said. “The poor guy’s gotta fix his truck now. Clean his truck. Lose a whole entire day’s business. For one person being a jerk.”

But Morgan says he won’t be deterred.

“We’re not going anywhere. Hemming Park is our home,” Morgan said. “We love being part of the change that’s happening in downtown Jacksonville.”

Morgan says he’ll make the window stronger this time around.

And it looks like he’ll have the money to do it.

A GoFundMe campaign was set up by Ian Mairs, a friend of Morgan, when he found out about the damage. The GoFundMe campaign had received 129 donations totalling $3,635 when this this article was published.

Peter Haden is an award-winning investigative reporter and photographer currently working with The Center for Investigative Reporting. His stories are featured in media outlets around the world including NPR, CNN en Español, ECTV Ukraine, USA Today, Qatar Gulf Times, and the Malaysia Star.