![\"Bates](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/11\/191119_Bates_Den_Delivery_0193.jpg\")
<\/a>Grace Warder ’20 of New York City is this year’s owner\/operator of Bobcat Den Delivery LLC. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
With Grace Warder \u201920 of New York, N.Y., as the company’s current owner\/operator, Den Delivery is a staple for many a hungry student craving Den food during late-night study sessions, TV watch parties, or simply to round out their evening meal \u2014 perhaps with mozzarella sticks and a milkshake.<\/p>\n
By 9 p.m. sharp (by now it\u2019s 15 degrees), the night\u2019s BDD workers have set up shop in the Den at the table closest to where Den workers hand over finished food orders.<\/p>\n
Sitting next to Warder are Olivia Kranefuss \u201922 of Madison, N.J., and Moud Yousry \u201920 of Cairo, who are watching their laptops for new orders to appear on a Google Doc that\u2019s the temporary replacement for their delivery app (more on that later!).<\/p>\n
The three are among the 21 students on the BDD roster. While Kranefuss and Yousry both work at least once a week, other employees work more sporadically, sometimes every other week.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Working a shift for Bobcat Den Delivery on Nov. 19, Elly Beckerman ’22 of Washington, D.C., keeps an eye on student food orders flowing into the BDD Google Doc. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
Kranefuss and Yousry both like the job for the social aspect. \u201cIf your friends don\u2019t know that you work, it\u2019s fun to surprise them at the door,\u201d says Kranefuss, a new BDD employee. \u201cSeeing people throughout the night is really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is Yousry\u2019s sixth semester with BDD. As a former Den cook, he enjoys the chance to hang out with Den staff on the job. \u201cI\u2019ve created relationships with a lot of them,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s also fun to see new faces every shift and see where people live and what they\u2019re up to.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 10 minutes after 9 p.m., the first of many orders comes in. Yousry takes this one, placing an order at the counter under the name \u201cBobcat,\u201d which signifies the order is in fact for BDD (as opposed to any other Bobcat).<\/p>\n
<\/a>Surrounded by the tools of their business \u2014 computer, phone, and condiments \u2014 Grace Warder and Elly Beckerman review incoming orders on Nov. 19. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
On a busy night like this, he waits for three or four orders to come in before stapling them in brown paper bags which he loads onto the Den Delivery bicycle. After throwing on a winter jacket, he\u2019s off into the night, en route to the first of many deliveries.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s dropped another 2 degrees, but the Den deliverers know how to prepare for the cold. \u201cWe all wear Buffs,\u201d says Kranefuss, referencing the brand of multifunctional headwear that can be worn around the head or neck as an extra cozy layer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re biking, your body tends to heat up pretty quickly,\u201d adds Kranefuss. She isn\u2019t particularly fazed by the weather, despite this being her first semester on the job.<\/p>\n
<\/a>On Nov. 19, Bobcat Den worker Roman Hudgins ’21 of Winchester, Mass., hands over a Den Delivery food order to Olivia Kranefuss ’22 of Madison, N.J. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
As the 2019\u201320 BDD owner\/operator, Warder is in charge of the business side of things. BDD is a limited liability company, or LLC. “We\u2019re a company recognized nationally and by the state. So we pay state taxes, we pay federal taxes,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Now in its seventh year, the BDD\u2019s sustainability gratifies Perejda, its founder. \u201cThere are so many failed and struggling concerns in the food delivery space,\u201d he notes. \u201cBut BDD has endured and thrived because it’s by the students and for the students. There is a real connection to the Bates community and the Bobcat Den.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BDD is structured so that each year’s owner\/operator selects and trains their successor. What has proven key to the business’s ongoing success, Perejda says, is that each owner\/operator has full control \u2014 \u201cskin in the game,\u201d as he puts it. \u201cFor the business to continue to thrive, someone must always bear the full burden of ownership \u2014 and the full reward that comes with it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n