Partnerships
Here at New Harvest we like to think that we don't take ourselves too seriously. Life is too short not to have fun. At the same time, we are keenly aware of the fact that in the communities where the coffee we roast is grown, life is shorter still and fun can be a rare commodity.
We cannot ignore the disparity between the lives of those who grow coffee and those who drink it. We address this in a number of ways. By offering Fair Trade Certified coffee on our website, we provide a direct link between coffee farmers and consumers, and guarantee farmers a good price for their work. Our focus on Certified Organic coffee further expands the benefit to coffee growers, by creating environmental benefits for their larger communities.
We could have stopped there and called it a day with a clear conscience. But we feel a continuing need to expand our connection with coffee-growing communities, in every way we possibly can. That is why we have partnered with the Dos Pueblos New York-Tipitapa Sister City Project and Project HOPE, donating 25¢ per lb from our sales of selected coffees to their work in the coffee regions of Nicaragua and Guatemala.
COFFEE KIDS has helped thousands of children, women, and men in coffee-producing regions in Mexico and Central America to improve the quality of their lives and build more sustainable communities. Founded by coffee roaster Bill Fishbein in 1988, Coffee Kids is an international nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Their staff works with local non-governmental community organizations in Latin America to create education, health-care, training, and microenterprise programs for coffee farmers and their families. Their projects respect the cultural integrity of their local partners, foster independence, and promote long-term self-sufficiency. www.coffeekids.org
The Dos Pueblos: The New York - Tipitapa Sister City Project (www.tipitapa.org) is organized and operated to foster relationships between New York City and Tipitapa, Nicaragua, based on friendship, mutual respect and understanding. This is done primarily through support of grassroots initiatives to build Nicaraguan communities that meet the needs of their families and farmers, workers and neighbors. Dos Pueblos project partners are experimenting with organic agriculture, resolving conflicts between local gangs, and empowering women to combat hunger on the household and community levels by raising chickens. They are providing support for workers organizing to uphold their rights in the adjacent Free Trade Zone, teaching preschool teachers about early childhood development, and linking their programs to innovative needs-identification community forums promoted by the municipal government. Recognizing the shared history between the U.S. and Nicaragua, Dos Pueblos bears witness to the daily struggles of our sister city partners and contributes to public dialogue about paths to a global future based on human rights, justice and peace. New Harvest donates 25¢ for every pound of Nicaraguan coffee we sell on our website to support the Sister City Project's work in Tipitapa.
We are also proud to support the international health organization Project HOPE, through a donation of 25¢ on the online purchase of each pound of Guatemalan Huehuetenango One hundred percent of the money donated by New Harvest supports the health programs of Project HOPE in the coffee-growing highlands of western Guatemala. These programs are improving health and saving lives of coffee workers and their families, mostly Mayan Indians, in this region or desperate poverty and rampant disease. Project HOPE is helping by establishing small health clinics, serving the families of migrant and resident workers, directly on the coffee farms, and training plantation residents to staff the clinics and provide basic health services. Through the Project HOPE/New Harvest Coffee arrangement, those who pick the Guatemalan beans are being helped directly by the consumers who enjoy the brew. Project HOPE (www.projecthope.org) was established in 1958, and has worked in more than 80 countries around the world, providing Health Opportunities for People Everywhere.
Rhode Island Friends
We are also honored to support some worthy organizations right here in Lil' Rhody:
