Nothing would stop me

Darlene says:

I have a restaurant called "Darlene's Café." But since losing my dad last year as well as my father-in-law, I call it Kipapnow's. That means "My dads" [in Cree]. That way I can mention them every day.

I have been praying about this restaurant for eight years now. I had a vision about it. I wanted to make the people of Cross Lake know that I can do things. My dream was to have a coffee shop to attract the young people, to try to help them because there's a lot of suicides here.

I'm a caterer. I cater weddings, luncheons, anything. I saved up all my money. I tried to get money from economic development programs but I didn't get it. I went to the bank but I didn't get any loans. They said I didn't make enough money. I bought a deep-fryer and a small grill and in the summer time we had a burger stand every day. We usually made $500, $600 a day and I saved up that money. My children helped me sometimes.

Finally I got the buildings, two abandoned trailers, for $200 a piece. With the money that I saved, I started buying little stuff for them and fixing them up. It took me 3 years. My husband didn't help me, he didn't give me a dime. I did it all myself. I got stuck for a while. There were a lot of discouragements.

Finally last July it was done. But I didn't have the money to buy groceries. Took me about 6 months to get money again because I was out of a job and catering jobs were slacking off. And then my father in law got sick. He died August 11. I didn't feel like opening this place. Then my dad got sick. They flew him out, and he died December 3. I just wanted to die with him. I didn't want to do anything so we just left it like that.

But we got hydro turned on here the day he died because we wanted to drink coffee. I didn't have no tables. I didn't have no chairs. We had to borrow chairs to feed the people when my dad's death came about. And then I gave up. I didn't want to open it. I couldn't look forward to the day because I was grieving too much.

In February people were pressuring me to open the restaurant so I went to the bank again. But the bank wouldn't lend me the money. So I came sat here at my big window thinking, "How am I going to open this restaurant? How am I going to run this place without any money?" But I was determined. Nothing would stop me. I would have waited to have a bake sale or a rummage sale just to start me off.

And then this lady walked in - she had just won some money - and she says, "Why aren't you open?" "Because I got no money for groceries," I said. "How much do you need," "$500." And she looked at me and said, "Why don't you go buy groceries on my grocery account and I'll pay for them." So I did. I bought hamburger, just to make hamburgers and fries and a club house. We opened February 20, 2002.

I borrowed big round tables from the community council. And some chairs. There were 5 big tables here. And every day they were full. People would wait and they would sit together even if they were strangers. It was overwhelming how much response there was.

I was open for two weeks. I made $15,000. I started off with negative $500. I paid that lady back right away. But after 2 weeks that canopy wasn't big enough for the propane tanks. I used up all that $15,000 to get a canopy and to get propane hooked up.

I figured sometimes I couldn't make it. I wanted to give up. And somebody would drop by and just boost me up. The dishes and the cutlery were loaned to me. I bought my own dishes now, my cutlery, everything. My coffee pot was loaned to me. Everything came out from nowhere. Before we opened I had no water or sewage tank. And this old man came and goes, "I'm trying to extend my garden but the water tank is in the way and my sewage tank. If you want them, you can get them." So we went and got them. Everything is amazing. I couldn't afford cupboards. These cupboards here I designed myself out of leftover plywood. They were dirty and some were greasy. So I washed them down and burned them with a torch and then I varnished them… Everything came into place. Everybody donated little things.

I don't have an income myself yet from this place. Because every cent that's left I try to buy what's needed here. If the Cross Lake First Nation would support me in anyway, I would ask them if they could haul water and sewer for me. That way I would have a pay cheque every two weeks.

I employ 12 employees, 6 full-time, 6 employees on weekends too. And sometimes it's so busy I have to hire extra help. There's over 5000 people here in this community of Cross Lake. There's lots of unemployment. Women don't really have jobs, they're housewives. These people that work for me, it's their first-time working a full-time job.

My dad wanted me to get this business going. "Make sure you build this restaurant. Make sure you prosper. At least I want one of my children to prosper," he said. People always used to come to my Dad's. Even white people, any kind of people. They were hungry. They were visitors. They didn't have no place to eat. The restaurants here were closed on Sundays. And they don't know anyone. And we used to feed them. With the restaurant here too I like feeding people, any kind. I want to treat them like family. I want to make them feel comfortable.

Sometimes it's so hard. I never expected this restaurant business to be so hard. We've had so many problems. But it's a challenge that I ain't about to give up.