Inspire Cafe opens at Samaritan Clinic
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Staff at the new Inspire Cafe at Samaritan Clinic prepare customer orders. The cafe opened in January, a joint project of the Samaritan Foundation and the Red Door Cafe.
MOSES LAKE — The new coffee and sandwich stand in the lobby at Samaritan Clinic is the culmination of a 2017 project of the Samaritan Foundation.
The new Inspire Cafe features pastries, cookies, sandwiches, soups and coffee in partnership with the Red Door Cafe. It is open from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The cafe is just inside the front entry at the clinic, next to the newly remodeled Laketown Pharmacy location.
The foundation raised about $40,000 for the project, said Gretchen Youngren, Samaritan’s director of development and communications. “The fundraising was accomplished largely due to the support of the Samaritan Employee Giving club, named Inspire, hence naming the cafe after the folks who worked so hard to make it happen.” The hospital also received a grant from the AZ Wells Foundation, and a small portion of the project was funded through that, Youngren said.
The cafe started serving customers in early January and “as of right now they are fully up and running,” Youngren said.
The foundation “approached us about a year ago,” said Jan Thacker, one of the owners of Red Door. “It was quite an opportunity."
Most of the offerings on the Red Door menu are also available at Inspire Cafe, Thacker said. That includes the cinnamon rolls, scones, cookies and baked goods, the sandwiches, salads and soup, coffee, tea and beverages. Inspire customers can buy the panini special of the day, but that’s the only panini sandwich offered at the coffee shop, Thacker said.
“You can also call in a lunch order and they will have it ready to go for pickup,” Youngren added.
Samaritan Clinic is located on Pioneer Way, but in a part of Pioneer Way where’s there aren’t many places to get a cup of coffee. Giving people another option was part of the reason for opening the cafe, Youngren said at an earlier Samaritan board of commissioners meeting.
In addition to the cafe, Red Door will be a sponsor for foundation events, Youngren said, and will be providing food for foundation events. “They also pay a monthly rent, which benefits the foundation,” Youngren said.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.