Tucked away on the east side of our gorgeous city is a business that is far more than just a place to get a great cup of coffee. A place that always goes above and beyond gets to know their customers and is one of the first to always step up to help when needed. That’s right….the Waiting Room Café!
On May 31st, the generous folks of the Waiting Room Café will be celebrating two years in businesses and in a grand gesture, all revenue generated that day, they are donating to the Red Cross to help those impacted by the wild fire in Fort McMurray.
“We want the community to come out and see us, to celebrated with us and to help raise as much money as we can for Ft Mac”, says owner Parvin Rasul.
In the two years since they opened the doors, Parvin says, “We have learned a lot of things and the community has really come through for us. If it wasn’t for Chestermere opening their arms to us, I don’t know how we would be. Sure, we still have issues with some residents not knowing about us or where we are located, but as a whole Chestermere has really welcomed us”.
The Waiting Room Café is owner by Parvin and Al Rasul, and you’ll also find their sons lending a hand, Sarfaraz and Zohaib. And even though they reside in Calgary, they consider Chestermere their home.
Al commented saying; “We’ve been able to tough out the first two years because of the support from the community. We have to remind ourselves that when we started here, there was nothing in the Kinniburgh area. No other business, residential was just starting to grow – so we had to be very patient”.
Recently, the Waiting Room Café was awarded two very distinguished awards from the Chestermere Chamber of Commerce. The Waiting Room Cafe won the Community Spirit Award as well as owners Al and Parvin taking home the award for Business Leader.
When asked what winning those awards meant to them, Al explained, “It now means that we are accepted in the community, by the community and we felt really good about the award. But the award is not for us, it’s actually the community that’s won the award – so they should be proud. It belongs to everybody in the community”.
One thing that is always noticeable about the Waiting Room Café is their willingness to give. Whether it is for a silent auction item, donating coffee and other items at an event, volunteering at various events – they truly do love Chestermere and treat it as their home. “One thing about us and the family at the Waiting Room Café, is that we believe in the concept of if you give a little, you get plenty– and we believe that”, says Parvin.
Parvin says that it has always been her dream to own a café, not a large one but a smaller one where people would come together, spend time together and where they could meet and get to know their customers. I would have to say, that she is definitely living that dream. You would be hard to find a customer that walks through the doors that Parvin and Al don’t know who they are and greet them by name – something they both pride themselves on.
But the Waiting Room Café has grown into so much more than just a place to get a cup of coffee. Over the past year they have held events such as Open Mic Nights, Synergy game nights, staff meetings for other businesses and the Chestermere Public Library even holds story time there once a week. Truly a sign of going above and beyond.
And now, as they are getting ready to celebrate their two-year anniversary, they are again, giving back. So please come out on May 31st to the Waiting Room Café (located at Suite 101, 288 Kinniburgh Blvd), where all revenue from the day will be going to support those up in Fort McMurray.
Congratulations Waiting Room Café!!
