Tag Archives: cafe

JavaJog 2017 Award Recipients Announced!

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$18,000 to be shared across three innovative projects that support coffee farming women in Nicaragua, Rwanda, and Ecuador 

After much deliberation, the JavaJog Grant Review Committee selected three projects to receive funds collected through the 2017 Seattle race. The projects support the creation of an organic farmers market in Nicaragua, a coffee seedling nursery in Rwanda, and a coffee processing and distribution center in Ecuador.

The 2017 Grant Review Committee recommended the allocation in funds in line with JavaJog’s Grant Protocol, which requires separation of the project review and evaluation process from the JavaJog Organizing Committee. The members of this year’s committee were: Charlene Lewey of King Arthur Flour (formerly of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters), Ben Schmerler of Root Capital and Katherine Nolte of Sucafina. The proposals are scored along six key criteria.

JavaJog 2017 is please to recognize the three winners!

  • In Nicaragua, the SOPPEXCCA coffee cooperative is embarking on an ambitious new venture: to bring organic vegetables and fruit grown by women cooperative members to the residents of Jinotega, Nicaragua. This first-ever organic farmers market, run by SOPPEXCCA, will provide a healthier alternative for the 100,000 people living in the area, while delivering opportunities for coffee farmers to diversify income and improve nutrition for their own families. JavaJog has allocated $7500 to Food 4 Farmers to implement this project in partnership with SOPPEXCCA.
  • The Rusave Coffee Cooperative in Rwanda will receive $5096, to work in collaboration with The Kula Project to build a seedling nursery to house and cultivate 35,000 coffee tree seedlings, and distribute coffee trees to 150 women coffee farmers, as well as provide agricultural training on the planting and maintenance of coffee trees.
  • In Chaucha, Ecuador,  El Grupo de Mujeres (EGM) or ‘The Women’s Group’ aims to increase the economic resiliency of the residents by supporting a collaborative, community-wide and women-led project of income generation and job creation. JavaJog has awarded $5404 to The Chain Collaborative (TCC) to support EGM to build a processing and distribution center for quality coffee that will provide farming income to residents of Chaucha and surrounding communities and build job security for women and youth for years to come.

The 2017 JavaJog was made possible by the support of generous sponsors: especially our Platinum Sponsor, Metad and Gold Sponsor, Baratza.  Other sponsors included: Equal Exchange, Cascade (Silver), and Marco, Equator Coffee and InterAmerican Coffee (Bronze).  Sponsorships cover 100% of the costs for the race and a professional race organizer to ensure a high quality experience for the participants.  This way, 100% of race registrations and funds raised can go directly to the JavaJog cause of supporting the efforts of coffee farming women around the world.

More than 120 runners and walkers gathered along the shore of Lake Union on Friday, April 21st for 5K and 10K races. In all, race registrations, individual fundraising efforts (top fundraisers were Elizabeth Goldblatt ($3315), Baratza ($1425) and Kimberly Easson ($900)), and a generous $3000 contribution by Starbucks brought the total amount of funds to be awarded to $18,000.

JavaJog will be providing progress reports on the projects as they get underway.

Thank you everyone for your hard work to make this possible!

Stay tuned for more details about the 2018 Race planned for Seattle Expo! 

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Celebrating International Women’s Day: Spotlight on Coffee Women in the Eastern DR Congo

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As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, March 8, we celebrate the triumph of spirit of women from around the world, especially those in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and realize that their fight for economic and social freedom continues.

In the past decade, violence, poverty and disease in the DemocratiImmaculeec Republic of Congo have claimed the lives of over 5 million men, women and children. Despite democratic elections and multiple peace agreements, the eastern region is still impacted by conflict—more than 1.3 million people are not able to return to their homes.

Through the tragedy, hope still shines in the coffee farming villages along Lake Kivu in the Eastern DR Congo.  Coffee trees are coming back to life — a reflection of the enduring force of nature and the indelible human spirit of those tending to them.

Yet the uncertainly and threat remains. Every day, the women in Eastern Congo face continued obstacles to their ongoing recovery, as it is one of the most violent and difficult places to be a woman. Whether they are a farmer of coffee or a staple crop, these women continually struggle to find the means to get by and to care for their families.

In an effort to support the recovery of these communities, the second annual JavaJog will be held April 25th in Seattle in conjunction with the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Annual Conference and Exhibition. JavaJog, which brings together the coffee community for a fun and fitness event that benefits a great cause, will raise funds to invest in community-based efforts to improve the quality of coffee and the lives of the people who produce it, with a particular focus on women.

On Friday, April 25th more than 100 coffee industry professionals will gather at South Lake Union Park in Seattle, WA for the second annual JavaJog 5K (and 10K).

The objective of JavaJog 2014 is to build a collaborative platform of companies and organizations working in the Eastern DR Congo to:

•            Put Congo Coffee, and the communities that produce it, on the map;

•            Elevate the profile of women in these communities; and to

•            Raise funds to invest in community-based efforts to improve quality of coffee and the lives of the people who produce it, with a particular focus on women.

Several coffee-community businesses have signed on to help raise awareness and money for the women in Eastern Congo, joining together with JavaJog in its efforts to reach this year’s goal of $30,000. Westrock Coffee based in North Little Rock, AR, has signed on as Platimum Sponsor of JavaJog 2014. Other sponsors include Equal Exchange, Baratza, and Roast Magazine.

In addition to company sponsors, each participant in JavaJog 2014 will raise money for the cause. Runners and walkers have set up fundraising campaigns on the JavaJog Crowdrise site, and are reaching out to their own networks to spread the word and garner support. Prizes will be awarded to the top fund-raisers.

Last April, at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Annual Conference and Exhibition in Boston, fifteen runners raised $7,326 for the women’s committee at the Sopacdi cooperative in the Kivu region of Congo.

The women have invested the funds to make a difference in the lives of women not only from the coffee cooperative, but more broadly for women impacted by the ongoing violence.  Half of the funds were invested to implement specific income generating activities, including small portable mills and a boat engine to provide transport services to the community.  Profits from the project have been transferred to a microcredit and savings institution based in Minova. The other 50% of the funds was donated to local health centers around Minova who regularly attend women affected by sexual violence.

Funds from Java Jog 2014 will be invested through Sopacdi and other community based organizations working in the region through the Eastern Congo Initiative.

Please join JavaJog and its sponsors in our efforts to bring caring industry professionals together in solidarity with women in the Democratic Republic of Congo – to understand, to advocate and to do more – together.

This International Women’s Day, join together with JavaJog in support of these women. Visit JavaJog.org to participate. To support runners and walkers, head on over to Crowdrise. For sponsorship opportunities, please email javajog@gmail.com.