The biannual coffee bags support their partnership with nonprofit Onbikes.
BY KATRINA YENTCH
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Photos courtesy of Buddy Brew Coffee
At Barista Magazine, we always love a good cause-oriented blend, so this one comes just in time for summer bike rides to coffee shops. The Tampa, Fla.-based Buddy Brew Coffee has just launched a bag blend called Freewheelin’ Roast, which consists of a washed-process Huila, Colombia, coffee and a washed Sidama from Ethiopia, and supports the nonprofit Onbikes. Buddy Brew’s mission statement to “Brew good. Do good.” often comes in the form of coffee bags that support a good cause, so this bag represents the kind of work that gets incorporated into their yearly budget for donations that support community events and activities.
This isn’t the first bag blend of Buddy Brew’s to support Onbikes. Typically, they sell two bags a year that go toward this cause, but recently they decided to implement a third bag. Fifty percent of the profits from these bags support Onbikes’ mission to bring self confidence, community, and healthy lifestyles to children at risk. “Last year was tough, and Onbikes didn’t get the kind of fundraising exposure it usually does,” explain owners Susan and Dave Ward. “So Buddy Brew decided to launch this third roast.”
Onbikes is a Tampa-based organization that provides bikes to foster children, partnering with local governments and community members to determine just how many bikes and helmets they need to get and where to distribute them. Since their inception in 2011, they’ve been able to give away over 7,300 bikes.
The Onbikes organization is a nonprofit that Susan and Dave are especially fond of, as the partnership has been going strong for several years now; Recently, they gifted the group a check for $6,435 USD thanks to the efforts of this collaboration. The Onbikes founders have been longtime regulars at one of Buddy Brew’s locations, which is how they met and connected.
However, this isn’t the only altruistic bag blend that Buddy puts out. “The other collab coffee we have currently donates funds to VuViVo, a local ministry that supports victims of sex trafficking,” explains Joan Brasher, communications specialist at Buddy Brew. “Our other current collab is with Trees for Kibira in Burundi, which plants trees to restore the coffee habitat in that region.”
To support the Freewheelin’ Roast collaboration, you can check out the bag here.
