A local non-profit has exceeded its fundraising goal to build a commercial kitchen at its new location.

Cohab Executive Director John Grindley says any amount over the $20,000 Kickstarter Campaign goal is just a bonus. "We're just thankful that we beat the goal with actually two days to spare," Grindley says. "That's pretty impressive, because sometimes these kickstarter things go down to the wire."

The funds will go toward a kitchen incubator for local entrepreneurs, from caterers to people who want to take what they've started out of their homes. The big thing the money will be used for is to bring everything up to health code.

"A lot of things need to be replaced, so money will go towards repairs and replacement of equipment," says Grindley. "We're gonna make the money go a lot further than most people could, because we can get used fryers and things like that, that can be cleaned up and used perfectly. So we're gonna make $20,000 look like $40,000."

Grindley tells KEEL News there was a tremendous amount of support here in our area, but also donors from as far as Arizona and Chicaco, Illinois. But getting through a kickstarter campaign isn't always an easy task.

"You have to have a compelling story and I think we did, and people got behind it," he says. "I think they started to see the momentum building. Once you get past a certain threshhold, it's a lot easier."

Cohab should receive the funds its raised by the end of the week. Grindley says a grand opening for the new building is set for next month, but the kitchen won't be complete by then. He's expecting all that work to be finished by late fall.

Listen to the full interview with John Grindley here:

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