The Go Fund Bean logo.
The grassroots barista financial support group Go Fund Bean has announced it will be issuing a new round of grants totaling $12,000 for struggling hourly coffee workers.
Go Fund Bean will be issuing 24 grants worth $500 each. The grants have been made possible by donations from home and commercial coffee equipment seller Seattle Coffee Gear and syrups and sauces maker Torani.
The application period for individual grants opened today and will run through Sunday, Nov. 15. Go Fund Bean will select the recipients provide payments, with priority given to those workers who are in immediate danger of losing housing. The application can be found here.
This latest round of grants follows a grant program led by Go Fund Bean in July with funds coming from numerous private companies, including home coffee equipment maker Melitta USA, and Burundi specialist importer JNP Coffee, which donated 5% of its green coffee sales for a month.
Founded by coffee professional Adam JacksonBey, Go Fund Bean sprung to action in March as the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated widespread shutdowns among coffee shops all over the United States.
After initially serving as a virtual tip jar aggregator — a service it still provides for free — Go Fund Bean has continued to address the immediate financial needs of coffee shop workers.
“We’ve since seen that the hourly coffee professional needs a more complete safety net and that the problems in coffee are systemic issues that cannot be solved quickly with a virtual tip jar,” the group said in an announcement of the new grant round. “In August 2020, we awarded COVID-19 relief grants totaling over $9,000 to 35 individual hourly coffee workers. GFB is also beginning other programs that will benefit the hourly coffee worker.”
[Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the application process, and to note that Melitta USA provided funding for an initial round of grants.]
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