North Carolina coffee professional Chris McAuley started the initiative to give donated coffee gear to baristas from marginalized communities.
BY CHRIS RYAN
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Cover photo courtesy of getchusomegear
This summer, Chris McAuley—a barista and manager at Durham, N.C.’s Joe Van Gogh—asked some coffee-professional friends to donate coffee gear to give to a Joe Van Gogh staff member so they could make coffee at home. Once that transaction was complete, Chris realized that this didn’t have to be a one-off occurrence. Rather, more coffee pros and companies could donate gear to create home coffee setups for baristas from marginalized communities.
With that idea in mind, Chris launched the Instagram handle @getchusomegear in June this year to bring these donations to life. Baristas click the link on the page’s bio to apply to receive a gear box, and Chris assembles the gear boxes using donated equipment. While the project launched quietly, word of mouth quickly spread, and Chris started getting frequent offers from companies and coffee professionals to donate equipment, as well as requests from baristas in need. “The process has been incredibly easy so far,” Chris says. “I’m enjoying how organically everything is happening right now—it’s really amazing.”
While the contents of the gear boxes vary depending on recent donations, Chris typically talks to each barista about their needs and then tries to find the equipment in question. Popular box items include a kettle, scale, server, and dripper, but Chris says adding a little something extra to the boxes helps make the process fun: “My favorite part of putting boxes together is adding little surprises that the barista will see before they get to the gear: books, tampers, sweet coffee swag, coffee, etc.,” Chris says.
Chris says the response has been overwhelming on both sides of the equation: On the donation side, the generosity of the specialty-coffee community has overwhelmed expectations. “Umeko (Motoyoshi) donated over 150 cupping spoons, and the fine folx @bitchybaristas sent buttons and stickers so we could help spread the good word,” Chris says. “Our community is really showing up for us, and I’m over the moon (and sometimes overwhelmed) about being able to help facilitate something like this.”
The recipients’ enthusiasm has been equally high; a July Instagram post from @getchusomegear offered an excited repost from gear box recipient (and one of the newest Glitter Cat members) Cydni Patterson: “MY WORD! This has been the most exciting week. So many people have been breathing life into my career, and I feel so blessed. The space and materials to learn, grow, and work towards mastering this craft should be open to everyone. @getchusomegear hooked me UPPPPPPP, and I’m so excited to learn more and more about this accidental love in my life.”
Chris also mentions the story of another recent box recipient who made her first at-home pourover and said baristas deserve “to turn the hospitality on ourselves” and receive “just as much care as we give our customers every day.” For Chris, getchusomegear is about accessibility, and making sure marginalized baristas can get the equipment they need.
“Coffee gear is expensive and marginalized folx face financial hardships at a higher rate,” Chris says. “If there’s a barista that’s really into exploring their craft, they should be able to access the tools and information to do so. I’m a POC/queer/trans person, so this project is very personal for me. Accessibility in the coffee industry is the forever mood.”
Check out more on getchusomegear at their Instagram; baristas interested in applying for a gear box can head here to fill out the form.
