November 5, 2012
To the Members of the Babylon Village Community:
On behalf of Monsoon Asian Kitchen and Lounge, we see it may be important to share here the intent behind our efforts to get operations up and running swiftly while making a difference to all who live and work locally and in surrounding areas.
Our thoughts are with every member of the community, including employees, who were devastated by Sandy personally or via their extended families.
We are doing many things locally, both large and small, to help.
Members of our staff are selflessly giving back to their communities, on their own behalf and that of the Bohlsen Restaurant Group. Our managers have been spending the time they are not tending to their own homes working with the American Legion, feeding those who need to eat, and with the Red Cross in communities hardest hit along the South Shore. We are also amassing collections in each of our six restaurants for clothing, blankets, non-perishable food and bottled water.
We aim to host a series of fundraisers, beginning on Friday, November 16 with Cocktails for the Community. From 5PM we will serve half-price drinks and a $25 three-course menu. For every $10 contributed at the door to the Babylon Rotary, there is a chance to win valuable prizes. We will also match each donation.
Over the past week, we have been humbled by guests thanking us for being open. Since their day-to-day lives have been so difficult, they have welcomed a little slice of normalcy.
Serving guests helps us all. Many of our staff members have suffered tremendously. In these last few days of Sandy's aftermath, they have a need to begin working again in order to support their families. It is our responsibility to help our employees, our families, and therefore our communities through this tragedy.
Getting back to work, and communicating about it, is not meant to trivialize the tremendous suffering in our community. No, it is not business as usual. Our actions are meant to get us all back to life as it was prior to the storm, or at least a bit of respite until then.
We are not only supportive of the local community, we are a part of the local community.
Michael Bohlsen & Kurt Bohlsen
