Coin Drive for Change

We are delighted to invite you to participate in Building New Hope's COIN DRIVE FOR CHANGE to help us continue our relationship with the El Porvenir coffee cooperative.

In response to a drastic drop in the price of coffee on the world market, we began a partnership with El Porvenir, a farming cooperative of 48 families in the mountains near León, Nicaragua seven years ago. This relationship evolved into our current organic coffee program, a partnership based on fair trade and mutual equity, where BNH pays above fair trade prices, helping the farmers invest in their future and creating a more direct link between producers and consumers.

At BNH, we believe strongly in our relationship with El Porvenir, not only because the coffee is delicious, but also because it is a relationship firmly rooted in principles of sustainability and social justice. El Porvenir's organic coffee is shade grown, without the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides, thus preserving the ecosystem for all of us. The community has chosen to invest a significant portion of their earnings from coffee into their future -- planting new coffee trees to take the place of older trees that are no longer productive, diversifying their crops with the planting of cacao and avocado and improving their infrastructure to combat soil erosion. As the December harvest quickly approaches, we are working to uphold another important piece of this partnership: prepaying the harvest. Prepaying the crop is a key part of a just economic relationship with small farmers, as it allows the cooperative to pay the farmers as they work and helps to keep communities out of debt.

The goal of the COIN DRIVE FOR CHANGE is to collect enough small change to make a considerable down payment on the coffee harvest for El Porvenir. Our challenge lasts from October 15th to November 15th. To participate, you can collect coins for one day, for a week or for an entire month -- every little bit is important and makes a huge impact in the lives of the families of El Porvenir. Your small change can make big things happen!

If you have any questions, please contact Barb Wein at 412-421-1625. Thank you for helping us work with the people of Central America for a better future.