Thursday, February 21, 2008

20th Anniversary Platinum Sponsor: Longbottom Coffee and Tea

Longtime Coffee Kids supporter Longbottom Coffee and Tea is the platinum sponsor for our 20th Anniversary Dinner to be held on May 3rd at the Minneapolis Convention Center during the SCAA Conference and Exhibition.

Longbottom Coffee and Tea is a coffee roaster and retailer based in Hillsboro, Ore. Owner and CEO Michael Baccellieri and his company have been enthusiastic Coffee Kids supporters since 1992. Baccellieri even traveled with our staff to Oaxaca, Mexico, in April 2007 to learn about the efforts of Coffee Kids partner FomCafé.

“We believe all coffee roasted needs to be traded fairly,” Baccellieri said. “Longbottom Coffee works to support coffee-farming communities through a great organization—Coffee Kids.”

The celebration dinner will commemorate Coffee Kids achievements over the past two decades. Guests at the dinner will have an opportunity to learn about how Coffee Kids’ pioneering microcredit programs, health care services and educational activities have helped thousands of women, men and children to develop their local economies and build more sustainable communities.

Others who have signed up to sponsor the celebration include:
Gold
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Waterbury, VT

Silver
Paragon Coffee Trading Company, L.P., White Plains, NY
Fres-co System USA, Inc., Telford, PA

Bronze
Coffee Exchange, Providence, RI
InterAmerican Coffee Inc. Houston, TX
Probat-Werke, Emmerich, Germany
Melissa J. Pugash, Los Angeles, CA
S-D Coffee, Concord, NC
Starbucks Coffee, Seattle, WA

Benefactor
Mars Drinks North America, Westchester, PA
Peets Coffee and Tea, Berkeley, CA

Patron
Atlantic Specialty Coffee, Inc. Hayward, CA
Baratza, Bellevue, WA
Batdorf & Bronson/Challain, Inc., Olympia, WA
Bongo Java, Nashville, TN
Bunn-o-Matic Corporation, Springfield, IL
Gulf Winds International, Houston, TX
Magnum Coffee Roastery, Nunica, MI
Bongo Java, Nashville, TN
Deli Café, S.A., San Jose, Costa Rica
Illy Espresso of the Americas, Inc., Oakland, CA
Wilbur Curtis Company, Dilveron, IL

Supporter
Aroma Coffee of Santa Fe, NM
Van Houtte, Inc., Montreal, Canada
Balzac Brothers and Company, Inc., Charleston, SC
Mont Blanc Gourmet, Denver, CO

Friend
Cape Horn Coffees, Inc., Springfield, OR
Elan Organic Coffees, San Diego, CA
Payden & Co., LLC, East Greenwich, RI
Urnex Brands, Inc., Yonkers, NY
Walton Coffee Co., Walton, NY
www.coffeecreations.co.uk, Glouscester, UK
Yellowstone Coffee, Bozeman, MT
Green Coffee Buying Club
Expocert Café, Santa Barbara, Costa Rica
The Inter Trade Co., San Francisco, CA
Cirqua, Camarillo, CA
Pacific Espresso, Santa Cruz, CA
Pod Pack International, Baton Rouge, LA
American Coffee Corporation, Jersey City, NJ

In-Kind Donors
Putumayo World Music, New York, NY
DaVinci Gourmet, Seattle, WA
The Hot Chocolate Sparrow, North Eastham, MA
Payden and Co., East Greenwich, RI
Fresh Cup Magazine, Portland, OR

Tickets for the celebration dinner are available at the price of $75 each. Coffee Kids also has various sponsorship opportunities available. Any sponsorship revenue in excess of costs will be directed toward Coffee Kids projects in Latin America. Please contact or call 505-820-1143 for more information on tickets or sponsorship opportunities.

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Rise of the Coffee Machines

A coffee-tasting machine created at the Nestle Research Center in Switzerland was recently featured in the article, “Coffee Tasting Machine Stirs Industry,” on the Scientific American Web site. The machine can only analyze espresso, so coffee cuppers can breathe easy for the time being, but such a device may play an important role in monitoring quality in the future.

Seeing this article reminded me of our trip to Oaxaca in December. While visiting a dry mill just outside of Oaxaca, we saw a machine that used light and small air jets to separate bad coffee beans from the good. Employees at the dry mill claimed it was more accurate than human bean sorters and saved them money by not requiring as much human labor.

This got me thinking about the number of people employed in the coffee industry to sort beans. It seems that every movie I see about coffee shows women crowded around a conveyor belt where they sort coffee for hours on end for a paltry wage. But watching this sorting machine made me wonder about what happens to the women it replaces. Granted the wages were low, but some income is better than none.

The economy in many coffee communities is so dependent on coffee that there are few options for people looking for work. If jobs like the harvesting and sorting and processing of coffee are mechanized, it can send waves through the community.

This is why it’s so important to help coffee-farming families create vibrant communities where there are alternatives to coffee. All of Coffee Kids partners are working to that end and making great strides. Check out our latest Coffee Kids newsletter to find out how.

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Monday, February 11, 2008

20th Anniversary Celebration Tickets Available

The year 2008 marks two decades of Coffee Kids helping coffee-farming families create vibrant communities. Celebrate with us at our anniversary dinner on May 3rd at the 2008 SCAA Conference in Minneapolis, Minn.

Throughout the evening we will reflect on the achievements and challenges of the last 20 years, look ahead to the future, and acknowledge those who have stood by us and our partners in the work. Speakers will include Coffee Kids Founder Bill Fishbein, Executive Director Carolyn Fairman, and Board President Rob Stephen, as well as other special guests. Plus, a Putumayo World Music recording artist will be making a very special performance.

20th Anniversary Celebration Dinner
Saturday, May 3, 2008
7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Minneapolis Convention Center, Ballroom B
Dinner to include wine, hors d’oevres, entrée and dessert.

Individual: $75
Company table for eight : $560

Reservations are required. Please contact Heather Ferraro at or (505) 820-1443 for reservations.

Revenue in excess of event costs will be directed toward Coffee Kids’ projects in Latin America.

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Thursday, February 07, 2008

Celebrate 20 Years of Coffee Kids

Hello Friends,
I’ve been working on behalf of coffee-farming families since 1988. By taking the simple step to create Coffee Kids with a few friends, I set in motion a multitude of forces that I had no idea were waiting in the wings. That step led me on a path to my life’s work: giving back to coffee farmers and helping create sustainable communities.

I am excited about Coffee Kids’ 20th year of helping coffee-farming families improve the quality of their lives. To commemorate this milestone, we’ll be holding a celebration dinner on Saturday, May 3, 2008, at the Minneapolis Convention Center during the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Convention.

During the evening we will reflect on achievements and changes over the last 20 years, look ahead to future goals, and acknowledge the people – such as yourself – who have helped along the way.

I invite you to become a Sponsor of this very special event* and join us in celebrating 20 years of vision and hard work on behalf of coffee-farming families. Since some of the sponsorships are available on a first come, first served basis, please download our sponsorship form (PDF; 436 KB) and send it to Ms. Heather Ferraro at Coffee Kids as soon as possible. Thank you.

Please don’t delay in helping us make this our most ambitious year yet in offering hope of a better future to thousands of coffee-farming families.

Best wishes,
Bill Fishbein, Founder

*Any sponsorship revenue in excess of event costs will be directed toward Coffee Kids’ projects in Latin America.

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Irish Eyes on Nicaragua

Ever traveled with a pack of Irishmen? Lucky for me I can say that I have. And it was the gift of a lifetime. I traveled to Nicaragua with representatives and affiliates of our long time supporter in Ireland, Java Republic. While it’s always an adventure and an eye opening experience when our supporters visit Coffee Kids project participants, this was truly an extraordinary journey.

I don’t know that I have ever seen such an extraordinary spirit of generosity, compassion, adventure, fun and learning. I myself learned about the Irish and their history and just what incredible people they are. There were people from each region of Ireland, including Northern Ireland. Because of the history of poverty and violence that Ireland has experienced and because they were able to overcome that history largely due to education, these travelers felt a sense of solidarity with the Nicaraguan people. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti. Nicaragua has experienced a long history of civil strife, corruption, and poverty. Perhaps it was this ability to identify with this shared history and to see the hope for the future that lead to such exceptional generosity on behalf of these Irish travelers. But I don’t think so. I think they are just highly compassionate people.

I watched as 17 people made a concrete difference in the tiny community of Aguas Amarillas by supporting the students struggling to continue their education and learn new technologies to bring them into the future. Perhaps the most moving gesture, at least to me, was that each one of these people brought back the knowledge that they can make a difference— not just by being associated with Java Republic, but through their own personal commitments to support Coffee Kids and generate more support for the town of Aguas Amarillas and so many like it throughout Latin America.

I have never been so proud to represent Coffee Kids internationally and of the work that we do. I can’t thank them enough for all that they taught me about the impact an individual can have on the lives of others. They each touched many lives, not least of all my own.

Check out pictures from the trip at Coffee Kids Flickr site or you can visit this site and see photos of the trip from our friend Patrick Jordan who was one of the visitors with the Java Republic.

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Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Coffee and Popcorn

We just received a DVD here in the Coffee Kids offices and thought you should check it out as well.

Black Coffee is a three-hour, three part documentary chronicling the history of coffee and the conditions faced by coffee farmers. It gives a great overview of coffee history, the coffee industry and life in coffee-farming communities.

Black Gold is another good documentary to check out. It’s gotten a bit more publicity than “Black Coffee” and gives a good overview of the plight of coffee farmers, primarily those in Ethiopia.

Let us know if you get a chance to check them out and tell us what you think.

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Monday, February 04, 2008

20th Anniversary Scrapbook

In 1988, Bill Fishbein, David Abedon and Dean Cycon began a chain of events that would lead to the creation of Coffee Kids, the first international nonprofit dedicated to helping coffee-farming families improve their quality of life. This year, we celebrates two decades of helping coffee-farming families create vibrant communities. Throughout the year, we will feature images and people from the past along with events celebrating our anniversary.

Bill Fishbein’s first visit to Guatemala in 1988 set the stage for what would become Coffee Kids after he witnessed the poverty surrounding coffee production and met with people like Miglioneth (left).

Coffee Kids Co-Founders David Abedon, Dean Cycon and Bill Fishbein mug for the camera with children during a visit to Guatemala.

Manuel Rodriguez (left) helped Fishbein and Coffee Kids develop the very successful micro-lending and savings model used by Coffee Kids partner AUGE (Self-Managed Development) in Veracruz, Mexico.

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