Million Dollar Donation

One of our favorite organizations working in this industry is Coffee Kids.  The nonprofit supports projects across coffee communities in Latin America focusing on health care, food security, economic diversification, and education. In all honesty, one of the most rewarding aspect of working in the specialty coffee business is the way that our actions and decisions as businesses can make a real and honest impact on people’s lives even half-a-word away. It’s not every industry where that’s true, where supporting certain organization, or making certain buying choices can affect a child’s education, a community’s health, the environment and more.

We had an extensive interview with Bill Fishbein, the found of Coffee Kids, in the February + March 2014 issue, and if you haven’t had a chance to check it out, you really ought to take a few minutes and give it a read. It’s impressive not just because it shows what one person can do (and of course one of the thing you realize immediately when reading the interview is how Bill did not do it on his own, and how quickly he would point out all of the people who helped him along the way), but Bill’s story, like so many of us in coffee, is almost a happy accident but what he did when he got into the business is not. How he ended up working in coffee, how he saw the poverty that many coffee farmers live in, and how he dedicated himself and his organization to changing that is relatable, admirable, and straight up awesome.

But it’s not just a few small companies and individuals who are involved with Coffee Kids, and again it’s one of the great things about working in specialty coffee that business large and small actually give a damn, not just about profits, but about actually positively impacting change where they can. To that end consider this: in April, DaVinci Gourmet reached a huge milestone with Coffee Kids. Over the course of eight years, DaVinci Gourmet has donated $1,000,000 to the organization! That is absolutely fantastic!

In a recent press release Marc Simon, senior brand manager for Kerry Beverage Brands, said, œAt DaVinci Gourmet, we are committed to supporting the endeavors of coffee farmers and their communities, which makes Coffee Kids the perfect charity partner for us. After eight years of working with Coffee Kids, we’re thrilled to have reached this milestone together. 
 
The release also said, “Through donating a portion of all sales to Coffee Kids, the total financial support from DaVinci Gourmet is equivalent to providing 4,500 participants with microloans, giving 5,400 children the opportunity to continue education or allowing 6,000 women to gain access to training, tools, seeds and a low-pressure irrigation system to start an organic vegetable garden.”
 
And Rebecca Singer, executive director of Coffee Kids, added, œPartners like DaVinci Gourmet make it possible for us at Coffee Kids to take a unique project-based approach of working with communities to transform their local vision into reality.  We’re so grateful that DaVinci Gourmet has committed to being our advocate and look forward to working with them in the future. 
Great job to DaVinci Gourmet, and to all Coffee Kids supporters, whether you’ve given a million dollars or one, you’re helping make someone’s life a little better. Thank you for all that you do.

 

About baristamagazine 2200 Articles
Barista Magazine is the leading trade magazine in the world for the professional coffee community.

2 Comments

  1. Big deal! I’ve been learning about the good that DaVinci Gourmet does in the coffee world and its shocking. Paying for all USBC competitors travel, sponsoring Coffee Kids, local recyling programs. There’s a lot they (as their in-house barista I can say ‘we’) do that people don’t realize. Makes me happy to come to work!

Comments are closed.