Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Anniversary Dinner Raises Nearly $100,000

Coffee Kids is proud to announce that our 20th Anniversary Dinner celebration raised nearly $100,000. Over 240 people attended the event held May 3 during the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Conference & Exhibition in Minneapolis, Minn.

Representatives from Longbottom Coffee and Tea, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Foundation, DaVinci Gourmet and Putumayo World Music made presentations on the importance of helping to ensure an improved quality of life for coffee-farming families. Luca Mundaca, a Putumayo recording artist, performed at the event.

Retiring Founder Bill Fishbein was honored by representatives from CECOCAFEN, a Coffee Kids partner in Nicaragua working in education and microfinance. In a heartfelt tribute CECOCAFEN established the Bill Fishbein Medal of Academic Excellence. The medal will be given to one outstanding student each year and will cover the costs of the student’s continuing education.

The celebration dinner also featured the screening of a new film on Coffee Kids’ impact produced by Machine Hero, a communication arts company based in Providence, R.I. The video can be seen on our blog. To see pictures from the dinner, check out our Flickr page.

Money raised at the celebration will be used to help Coffee Kids’ partners continue their efforts in coffee-farming communities in Latin America. Coffee Kids’ 12 partners work in economic diversification, health care, education and other community-based programs that help improve quality of life for coffee-farming families and reduce their reliance on the coffee crop.

Special thanks go to all of our supporters and sponsors who made this event possible.

Platinum
Longbottom Coffee and Tea, Hillsboro, OR

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
Coffee and Cocoa International, UK

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
Gaviña Gourmet Coffee, Vernon, CA
Gulf Winds International, Houston, TX
Magnum Coffee Roastery, Nunica, MI
Bongo Java, Nashville, TN
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
Carpe Diem Coffee & Tea Co., Mobile, AL
Deli Café, S.A., San Jose, Costa Rica
Eight o’ Clock Coffee, Towson, MD
Coffee Solutions, Franklin, MA

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
Karalynn M. McDermott, Seattle, WA
Coffee Lab International, Waterbury, VT
First Colony Coffee and Tea, Norfolk, VA

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