‘How can we afford not to?’: Mama Crockett’s provides free coffee, donuts during community conversation event

‘People are really hurting right now’

LYNCHBURG, Va. – An event that started with 10 minutes of planning and a simple Facebook post has garnered a huge local response and demand for more like it.

From open to close on Tuesday, the Mama Crockett’s Cider Donuts location in Lynchburg hosted an event called “Family Talk.”

They provided free donuts and free coffee to anyone who stopped by. The goal was to get people to unite while talking through their different life experiences.

The owner, F.W. Willis, said they had anywhere from 5- to 600 people come within the first half of the day.

When we asked Willis how he could afford to provide the donuts and coffee to the community for free, he got choked up. He said, “You just do it,” and that “People are really hurting right now.”

“It’s more like, how can we afford not to? It’s just something that needs to be done. It’s just that simple,” said Willis.

There was a donation box for people who wanted to contribute, however, Willis said he’s going to give 100% of the donations to the Legacy Museum of African American History, which is right up the street from his business.

Willis also said since the response was so great, he plans to start hosting “Family Talks” regularly, potentially even once a month.