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Micki SMith with a bag of Cafe Feminino coffee, sales of which benefit women locally and globally. (Photo Joe Fries)
By Joe Fries
Fair trade coffee takes on a whole new meaning when you buy it from the Kelowna Women’s Resource Centre.
In time for the holidays, the non-profit agency is offering one-pound bags of Cafe Feminino coffee beans, a brand of java that you can feel good about drinking. And at $14 a pound, it won’t break the bank.
It’s sourced from female coffee growers in South America, who are paid a fair price for their product, and profits are then poured back into the Cafe Feminino Foundation, which supports social programs and projects with a female-focus in coffee-producing communities.
What does that have to do with Kelowna? Cafe Feminino beans are only sold through women’s agencies such as the resource centre, and $4 from every bag sold stays right here with the seller.
“So it benefits women locally and globally,” explained Micki Smith, co-ordinator of the KWRC.
Her organization only began selling the beans in September, and sales to date have been, um, bold.
Smith learned of Cafe Feminino when she saw a documentary about the product and the story really stuck with her.
“It’s so inspiring in its philosophy and principles and integrity,” she said. “It very much fits in with the whole reason we’re here, which is promoting women’s equality and empowerment.”
The resource centre is run out of a small office downtown on St. Paul Street, but has been operating in the community since 1985. Smith has been at the helm since 1991, acting as a sort of captain for women who need a little help navigating life.
Clients, who mostly fall into the low-income category, get help from staff who “guide them through the various systems that are affecting their lives,” explained Smith.
By offering referrals to other service providers, the centre becomes a “real connecting, networking kind of environment.”
It also offers some programming, such as computer literacy training, and organizes community events, like an annual vigil to mark the anniversary of the massacre at L’Ecole Polytechnique.
Smith is the centre’s only full-time employee and she’s assisted by two part-time volunteers, one of whom is Jessica Donaldson. The UBCO student was honoured earlier this year for an additional program she runs to offer aid to the city’s sex-trade workers. Upwards of 20 volunteers also help out at the non-profit, which sees about 2,500 walk-ins annually.
The centre’s unofficial motto is: The coffee is always on.
Seems the place was destined to get into the business of selling ultra-fair trade coffee. So, it begs the question: How does it taste?
“It is really good coffee,” Smith replied. “Would you like a cup?”
joe@kelowna.com
250-575-4303
One Response to “Put some ultra-fair trade coffee under the tree from the Women’s Resource Centre”
Tags: cafe feminino, jessica donaldson, kelowna women's resource centre, micki smith
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This I like to see, local programs taking charge of some of
their own funding shortfalls. Fair trade coffee is a good
thing too, and I hope they will be successful all the way
around.
Please continue discussion on the forum: link