Your favorite cafes and coffee roasters still need our help. As we keep our distance to save lives, let’s come together to save livelihoods.
ComeTogether.coffee is now a place to donate money specifically to those who need it most. Originally, this website was created as a one-stop-shop website for those in the coffee industry who want to help, need to get help, or simply want to connect with one another in these difficult times. You could donate to tip jars, buy coffee, and read folks stories. Although that’s still available, we’ve amped up support by creating a fund for larger donations. Listening to cafes and baristas around the country, it’s clear the financial deficit due to the COVID-19 pandemic is greater than originally anticipated. From updating health and safety protocols, decreasing hours and staffing, to complete closures, the pandemic has put a stress on coffee businesses greater than anyone could have anticipated. Moreover, the impact has been even greater for small businesses owned by minorities and marginalized individuals.
The ComeTogether Cafe Fund focuses on supporting small specialty coffee cafes and businesses with 100% of the fund reserved for those who self-identify as being a member of an underrepresented or marginalized group in the coffee industry including but not limited to: BIPOC, disabled, LGBTQIA+, womxn, and racial and ethnic minorities. 50% of the fund is reserved for Black-owned/co-owned businesses. Additionally, The ComeTogether Cafe Fund seeks cafes and roasters not only owned by these groups but who also hire diversely.
Who is ComeTogether.coffee?
Together Fellow, Glitter Cat, Mage, and Go Fund Bean, collectively have reestablished this site to support the coffee community. A bit more about each partner:
Fellow - We design beautifully functional products that inspire any coffee lover to brew their best cup. As a product designer for the coffee community, we’re passionate about helping maintain the health of our industry’s ecosystem in whatever way we can.
Glitter Cat - Many marginalized coffee professionals don’t see competing in the U.S. Coffee Championships as a viable option. How can we come together to increase representation on the competition stages and in the coffee industry at large? Glitter Cat offers a set of all-expenses-paid bootcamps led by world-class instructors, where attendees discover community, mentorship, and a shared passion for coffee.
Mage - Mage is a digital studio in San Francisco, CA that specializes in e-commerce design and development with additional capabilities in branding and web-app design. We’ve been ‘coffee adjacent’ for years now, working with cafes and equipment manufacturers, and running on at least four cups a day. We’re in this to make sure we’ve all got cafes (and livelihoods) to return to.
Go Fund Bean - Go Fund Bean supports, uplifts, and defends the hourly coffee professional. GFB was started as a way to help coffee professionals with various crowdfunding efforts. Whether it was health, family, or competition related, the coffee community has a way of coming together and helping each other. This is a central resource for folks to be able to find ways that they can help support each other.
Need help as an individual?
Not a business but need help as a coffee professional? We have a fund for you! While The ComeTogether Cafe Fund is specific to businesses, Go Fund Bean supports, uplifts, and defends the hourly coffee professional—all individuals looking for support are encouraged to head to GoFundBean.org.
How The ComeTogether Cafe Fund will be disbursed
The ComeTogether Cafe Fund will be giving out funds in month-long cohorts. In order to avoid any timing advantages that may come with first-come first-served grants, we will provide an application window, followed by a donation dispersal window. A committee of five individuals within the specialty coffee community will be reviewing all applications and choosing grant receivers in order to cover any biases the creators of this relief fund may have.
Ready to get started?
We need your help to make sure the specialty coffee industry we all love can survive this pandemic! Every donation—big or small—helps! Donate here.
Are you a cafe or coffee business in need that fit this funds criteria? Apply for a grant here.