WHILE Robot Bun Factory Café was burned during the fire late last week, a fundraiser for their recovery has raised tens of thousands of dollars within the past weekend.

Café staff took to Facebook to notify patrons their shopfront was damaged when their neighbouring store experienced a fire and had to close indefinitely while undergoing repairs.

The community flooded the post with reactions, with hundreds of comments of support and fond memories about the café shared below.

“A world without the Robot Bun Factory is a little darker,” one commentor said.

“Lesley, Neil and the rest of the staff made everyone’s day a little brighter.

“We all eagerly await your return.”

Swan residents and long-time Robot Bun Café patrons Glen Kleinig and Hayley Harris set up a GoFundMe shortly after learning about the damages.

Ms Harris said starting the fundraiser was a first and felt compelled to help café staff.

“This is the first time we’ve done something quite like this,” she said.

“I’ve run some advocacy campaigns related to my work but the inspiration was out of love and care for Lesley and Neil and the staff at Robot Bun.”

Ms Harris said the community support response was incredible, but it had been expected because of the owners’ warmth and hospitality had earned them many loyal friends through the years.

“(The response from the community) has been incredible,” she said.

“Part of me is not even surprised by the reaction because the Robot Bun is a much-loved community hub.

“(The owners) are always so full of warmth and love, so I knew with 100 per cent confidence their customers and community would get behind them.”

Mr Kleinig said he was also expecting the Robot Bun Factory Café to receive much support from its patrons but was surprised by the speed of the community’s donations.

“I was pretty confident that we could get $10,000 which was the initial goal for the GoFundMe when I set it up in the evening but when I woke up the next morning and it was already at couple of grand, I was like. ‘Whoa,’” he said.

“It’s already taken off, so we upped the fundraising goal to $20,000, and we’ve hit that, so we had to raise it to $30,000 to better cover the extensive repairs needed to restore the café after the fire damage.”

Ms Harris said many in the community expressed they were willing to lend a helping hand to physically clean up, but the state of insurance made that impossible.

“People want to help physically clean up but given insurance that’s not an option right now,” she said.

“We’re hoping to look at other ways to continue supporting Robot Bun as they get back on their feet and are looking at getting other businesses involved.

“It might be a quiz night or a raffle of some sort, and we’ve already had interest from businesses like the Crooked Spire, who are another coffee store like the Robot Bun, willing to get involved to help them recover.

“We’re just hoping (the owners) are doing okay because having this happen is a big mental hit apart from just the physical side of things and getting the café fixed up is the biggest priority at the moment for them.

“It’s also about the 10 staff members that woke up the next day without work and with the cost of living being what it is, it makes it really hard to not have a job.

“So, it’s also about how to help get them opportunities for work as well and getting other businesses involved in the meantime who can lend a hand.”

Businesses who are interested in a supporting a fundraising event for the Robot Bun Factory Café or assisting staff members in the interim may contact kleinig@gmail.com

Donations for the café restoration fundraiser may be made at this website.