Thanks to everyone who came to the Colombia event last night. I hope you were entertained and learned something. I never know if we're saying anything interesting or informative.
We talked briefly about the project that the Coffee Children group is working on in Concordia to build a community center for youngsters to hang out, study, play, and eat while their parents are working in the coffee fields. I really want to support this project because I think it's the right thing to do and because it helps the people on the lowest rung of the coffee chain. And this time it's OUR coffee chain. These aren't just anonymous coffee people, they are the people (potentially) who pick the coffee cherries that make up our San Rafael, the La Aurora, La Estrella, and anything else we buy from Concordia.
Like I was saying last night, I want to do something bigger than just us. I feel like if each of us pitches in a few bucks, it's not going to go very far in building this project, so I'm trying to think of a way for us to pool our resources and raise more funds. I have a couple ideas, but I'm looking to you for a better idea.
Below are the pictures of the proposed new project.
And here is a link to a video they put together in Colombia: http://www.cafemontesycolinas.com/downloads/video06.wmv
1 comment:
I was talking with Isaiah about this last weekend because it has been weighing heavily on my heart. Honestly, I think that we should make it bigger than a coffee illuminati/doubleshot fundraiser.. i think it's an excellent way to build community among all the coffeehouses in Tulsa (and beyond, because you guys know a lot of people in the industry all over). We could probably get a lot of people all over to chip in for this... but I don't think it matters if we only raise a little bit of money at a time.. the point is that we do what we can for these people.
I also think it should be an ongoing, long-term thing, if needed.. if we could constantly be doing mini fundraisers at each of the coffeehouses (bc fundraisers still cost money.. overhead.. free coffee, etc., so each coffeehouse could pitch in) simultaneously (e.g., small raffles) or by taking turns (e.g., benefit shows? tons of musicians come in/work at these places).. we could have an ongoing fund.
And rather than making it 'just a fundraiser,' it'd be important to make it a 'cause.' ...something that everyone could sort of take personally when involved.. (e.g., "their" charity of choice). Literally making it a "cause" on Facebook, so that people can "join it," and refer others to do the same and donate. Getting people to donate time to fundraisers/benefit shows (there are plenty of us who are poor students and who are more than willing to donate time because we have no money.. and besides that, students can put it down as "volunteer work" on CV's and resumes).
I may be able to come up with ideas for little fundraisers (and i know plenty of people who will volunteer to work for free), but I don't know anything about say, for example, how much it would cost to donate coffee beans for the winner of some contest we put on to raise money... or how much it costs to use a store (electricity, etc.) to put on a benefit show or something like that.
So I think that if we all put together our ideas for these things and make it an ongoing thing... and at multiple sites... and really get people excited about having a REAL impact on these individuals... then we could raise a large portion of that money. After all, this is a huge reason why many of us joined Coffee Illuminati in the first place. We really can't ignore this now that we've learned about it (and you've come face to face with these people).. we just need to figure out how to do as much as we can to help, by putting ALL of our heads together....
Maybe we should have a fundraiser-planning Illuminati meeting after people have time to brainstorm some more..
Post a Comment