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Desert Sun raises money for Oromia coop
With funds raised during a local Coffee Festival and from a showing of the documentary Black Gold, Desert Sun recently delivered a check to Negele Gorbitu, a coop belonging to the Oromia Union in Ethiopia. As a supplement to an ongoing school project, this money will help students get the basic educational resources they so desperately need and deserve.
General Manager Tadesse Meskela holds Desert Sun's Yirgacheffe roast
At the Negele Gorbitu coffee cooperative in the Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia, students in the local primary school aren’t scared to speak up about the appalling lack of resources in their school and community. When CoopCoffees roaster-member Higher Grounds visited the coop in 2007, the kids lamented about not being able to continue their education beyond primary school as no secondary school existed. Now, with plans to move forward with the construction of a school – thanks to fundraising spearheaded by Higher Grounds – for students beyond sixth grade, the coop is happy to hear that yet another member wishes to participate in the project. Desert Sun recently sent money raised by the local community, to be used for providing books and resources for Negele Gorbitu students.
The staff at Desert Sun had heard about the project in Negele Gorbitu from Higher Grounds and committed to help raise money to support the school project as well. Every year in Durango, Colorado, a coffee festival takes place to raise funds for the city’s Adult Education Center. Desert Sun participates in the event by providing samples and bags of their delicious, roasted coffees. This year, their selection of specialty coffees included a couple of Ethiopian roasts – Yirgacheffe and Harar. 
Reserving a percentage of the profits made by the coffees, they began to pool together their funds. They also invited Yodit, an Ethiopian woman familiar with the country’s traditional coffee ceremony, to come and demonstrate the ceremony – roasting the green beans over an open fire outside! – for visitors at the Festival. The following day, Desert Sun showed a screening of Black Gold, the coffee documentary featuring members of Coop Coffees’ producer partners in the Oromia Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union, of which Negele Gorbitu is a member. All proceeds were contributed to the school fund.
After all was said and done, Desert Sun had raised over $3000! When fellow roaster Mark Glenn from Conscious Coffees in Boulder, CO made a trip to Ethiopia (see Travel news) in November, he personally handed the check to Tadesse Meskela, general manager of the Oromia Union.
We all look forward to seeing the fruits of the fundraising efforts!
