The newest arrival to Bellevue’s ever-evolving food scene is The Light House Cafe, located in the recently named Frontier District of Olde Towne. Their gradually expanding menu offers a hearty selection of coffee, breakfast staples such as biscuits and gravy and omelets, “Heavenly Waffles”, and healthy yogurt and granola parfaits. They had a soft opening on October 12th and business has been solid since then.
One of the more interesting things about their business model is that they aren’t actually a business. At least not technically. The Lighthouse Cafe is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Light House Cafe operator Tracey Colgrove grew up in the Beaver Lake area, south of Bellevue. He has memories of hanging out at Southroads Mall and spending a lot of time in Bellevue growing up. Throughout his career, he has worked various jobs in the restaurant industry. He is also a man with a very strong faith. He has combined his love of food and deep faith into a unique business model, operating his restaurant as a nonprofit. Colgrove shared, “I originally got the idea from The Gathering Place in Glenwood, Iowa. The owners were missionaries and used that place to support themselves and their mission overseas. My wife and I feel more called to be local missionaries. A lot of missionaries go overseas but sometimes don’t realize the real need in this area and across the country.”
How does being a nonprofit cafe work?
“All of the profit is invested back into the cafe. We have some paid staff and others who volunteer. There have been people that support the ministry through monthly contributions, and donations of fresh vegetables, grass-fed beef, and bread (for example). We also have no sales tax since we are tax-exempt. My wife is a Physical Therapist and we’ve been able to make things work. I’d love for her to one day be able to join me and have both of us working here.”
The Light House Cafe also offers a variety of special programs. Some have already started while others will pick up early next year. They have an Angel Tree in the cafe to support disadvantaged youth this Christmas. They have a Pay-it-Forward program that already has received a lot of donations despite the fact that it’s not fully launched yet. Working with places like HyVee and Panera Bread, they have days where they will be offering free bread to pick up. They also are offering a free Thanksgiving meal to local individuals and families in need this Thursday.
They were originally planning on feeding a smaller amount on Thanksgiving. However, the Omaha World-Herald published the story last weekend and the number of calls and inquiries has been crazy since then. They are anticipating feeding over 500 people on Thanksgiving. “If you are in need, if you don’t have a place to go or can’t cook a Thanksgiving meal at home. Maybe you have special needs or maybe you are a single, elderly person – whatever the reason – we wanted to offer an opportunity for those individuals to come to The Light House for a free meal,” Colgrove said.
Colgrove discussed the reasons they chose to set up in Olde Towne Bellevue. “While we were looking in Plattsmouth and Council Bluffs for a location, things fell in place here. The Downtown Coffee Shop was going to go up for sale and Colgrove happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was familiar with Bellevue from growing up nearby, hanging out at Southroads, and I worked at The Bellevue Berry Farm for awhile. And when I come here it has always felt like that same, intimate town. Couple that with knowing the socioeconomic condition of the Olde Towne area and the number of people that are in need in this area – there is a real need here in Bellevue.”
One major misconception about The Light House is that customers are preached to while they eat. “No,” said Colgrove. “We have some things laying around the cafe for people to read if they want. But I believe we are called to be nonjudgmental and I love having a good conversation with people. Just casual conversation that you’d expect in a coffee shop… the weather, the Huskers, etc.”
A special memory that stood out to Colgrove over their first six weeks in Bellevue involves a pair of overly critical customers. “There was a regular couple that came in and I felt they were pretty judgemental. I decided to approach them. I sat down and chatted with them. We ended up having a good talk and honestly, they’ve transitioned from our best critic to some of our best customers!”
