We proudly support a better way of life for coffee producing communities particularly our farm workers in Panama.

It is our goal to better the quality of life of the people who work for us and have endeavored to do our best in achieving this goal.

Our involvement with our workers and their families is both direct, hands-on and indirect, depending on their needs, interests and if they are local or itinerant workers.

Below are just a few of our programs:

Escuela Hacienda Cafetalera – This is an elementary school certified by the Panama Department of Education specifically for adults. We have a teacher who comes to the farm on Sundays and works with those interested in obtaining their elementary school diploma. Also on Sundays, we tutor students who need help with their studies.

Day Care Centers – Our workers arrive to the farm with their families where they live and work. We have established two day care centers where the parents leave their children while they go harvest the coffee. We provide day care and full meals for the children and our teachers are student teachers from the University of Chiriqui and earn credits from this service. We also provide health care services to the children of the workers thru the local public health care clinic.

Scholarship Program – We provide various scholarships to local private schools with help from benefactors such as LaserMonks and Benevolen Blends coffee.

Please read more about how the Janson Family is assisting their community with the help of LaserMonks and Benevolentblends.com by visiting our Giving Back page.

Coffee Kids has helped thousands of children, women, and men in coffee-producing regions around the world to improve the quality of their lives and build more sustainable communities. Founded by coffee roaster Bill Fishbein in 1988, Coffee Kids is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Their staff partners with local non-governmental community organizations in Latin America to create education, health-care, training, and micro-enterprise programs for coffee farmers and their families. Our projects respect the cultural integrity of our local partners, foster independence, and promote long-term self-sufficiency.

What is an example of a Coffee Kids success story?

Ayahualuco is a small town in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Each year the majority of the community migrates to a nearby coffee-growing region to harvest coffee. During this time, entire families including small children work from dawn until dusk picking coffee. They live in temporary migrant camps and the children miss three months of school.

In 1997, Coffee Kids began a micro-credit program focusing on creating a culture of savers in Ayahualuco with 100 women organized into five groups and no money in savings. As of 2006, the number of groups had expanded to 132 involving 3,460 women, men and children and the total saved is over $700,000.

This money is used for community improvements, low-interest loans, scholarships, and micro-enterprise. Through this project women and their families have generated additional income for their homes, gained personal confidence and have learned about diversification and investment strategies to better face the dependency on the coffee harvest.