Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM March 2020 | Page 18

COMMUNITY CORNER DOREEN HUGHES, REALTOR® Real Living The Hatmaker Group [email protected] ORDINARY PEOPLE, doing EXTRA-ORDINARY THINGS O rdinary people, doing extra-ordinary things best describes my first segment of profile of courage in our community, the year of the small business. Meeting Manish Maheshwari and his beautiful wife Shalini is a little like meeting family for the first time; lots of hugs, smiles, laughter, and conversations. This husband and wife couple are true “people connectors” they are warm, friendly, caring and kind owners of Little Bella Mia Casual Italian Kitchen and CoCo Crêpes, Waffles & Coffee located 2471 Gulf Freeway South, League City, TX in Pinnacle Park. Manish is a chemical engineer who studied at The University of Southern California, before making League City his home. But this is only what his resume says because Manish and Shalini are more than what is on their professional resumes. I recalled meeting these two dedicated business owners in the summer of 2017 and got to know them during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. They had just opened their new restaurant which was originally 16 MOMENTUM called PizzaFire and as Manish put it “the restaurant is a community place.” These dedicated business owners opened their restaurant to their community during the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, Manish could be seen tirelessly delivering hot, delicious pizzas to volunteers at League City Relief Center in the old Kroger store on I-45 in League City. When friends at the Shriners Hospitals of Children put out a call for pizzas for the young patients at the hospital, Manish stepped up on very short notice, had his team made fresh, hot, tasty pizzas then drove to Galveston Island to make a special delivery to the hospital, met the staff and celebrated with them. Fast forward to 2020 the restaurant had a name change, but it is still a “community place” where on any given day members of several non-profit organizations such as Communities in School, Lighthouse Christian Ministries, Networking with Friends, Coffee with a Hint of Kindness gather for networking, breakfast or lunch. Perry’s YMCA bring their young members out for activities such as promoting science and technology, robotics and STEMS projects. Local PTAs, Little Leagues and Painting for a Cause can often be seen at the restaurants, along with many students, parents, teachers and support teams from many schools in the area. What’s their why? According to Manish, “they love to work with non-profits that have a direct impact on our youth and underprivileged kids”. He believes a good education is a way out of poverty and abuse by leveling the playing field, empowering and supporting teachers is important because they have the biggest impact on raising our next generation. Supporting small businesses by buying local is good business, according to SCORE 67 cents of every dollar spend locally stays in the community. The next time you are looking for a place to dine in or out, cater, meetup or network think locally and give Little Bella Mia Casual Italian Kitchen and CoCo Crêpes, Waffles & Coffee a try. Thank you, Manish and Shalini for your dedication and commitment to our community, you make our hometown a beautiful place to live, work and play!