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A very special event is being hosted tonight at 6 pm by Fair Trade 2.0. They are hosting what they call FirstHand Night at Mountain People’s Cooperative to help benefit La Hermandad Nicaraguan coffee cooperative. Freshly brewed FirstHand coffee, along with snacks and baked goods from the Venerable Bean vegan bakery will be provided. 100% of the profits from the event will be given directly to the Nicaraguan co-op to help fund income diversity projects.
The FairTrade 2.0 president, Tyler Huling, states of the event “FirstHand Cafe Night is very similar to our coffee hours we have every Friday in Brooks (Hall,) but we do it at (Mountain People’s) Co-op in order to increase our community involvement. We really value our relationship with them.”
Diversity of income is an important thing for coffee farmers as things such as climate change, drought, plant disease, and insects can decrease the yield of a farmer’s crop. Therefore, if a crop fails, the farmer’s family suffers. Income diversity projects are there to help support the farmer and pay for food, clothing, and their home during times like this.
This couldn’t come at a better time as Central America is currently suffering from huge loss as the ‘leaf rust’ fungus is sweeping through and destroying crops. The La Hermandad cooperative has already suffered a loss of 30%.
The event this evening will run from 6-8 pm, with anyone being invited to stop by and enjoy coffee and snacks and make a donation. The suggested donation is $1 per cup of coffee.