Coffee Bar @Bailey’s team joins Mocha Club
Seven dollars doesn’t stretch the way it used to — not in America, at least.
But in Africa, $7 can mean the difference between life and death, and one organization — the Mocha Club — is
Renee Cutaia of the Coffee Bar @Bailey’s joined the Mocha Club in 2007 after she went to a performance by Matt Wertz, one of the many musicians who support and promote the organization’s efforts at their concerts by hosting sign-up booths for recruiting new members.
Cutaia — who admits she was initially intrigued by the promise of a free Mocha Club t-shirt — was ultimately convinced when she learned that for just $7 a month she could help make a big impact in the lives of people suffering thousands of miles away. She’s been a member ever since.
Lady Antebellum — the band that recently won the coveted “Song of the Year” award at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards — is also a proponent of the Mocha Club, and stipulates that all of their donations go to education projects in South Africa.
But there are many categories that potential donors can select from, including child mothers and women at risk, clean water, education, HIV/AIDS and health care and orphan care.
There are also emergency causes — people suffering from HIV/AIDS, lack of clean water and relief for genocide survivors and refugees — that people can immediately make direct, one-time donations to.
But the beauty of Mocha Club is that to be a member, all it takes is $7 per month — or, roughly the cost of two mochas.
Mocha Club began when Director Barrett Ward was leading a trip of college students to Africa in 2004 and discovered a shared discontent among the students who felt frustrated with their perceived inability to make an impact in Africa. This inspired Ward to create a new model for charitable donations — especially for individuals who may not have a lot of money to spare.
“Even when I was in college and broke as a joke, the monthly $7 never affected me,” Cutaia said.
But it adds up.
That’s why Cutaia decided to pitch the idea of forming a special Coffee Bar @Bailey’s donation team to her fellow baristas.
“Of course I didn’t want to force them, but I wanted to introduce the concept to them,” Cutaia said, noting that when she told her co-worker Quinton Foshee about Mocha Club, he immediately signed up for his own account — and many other CB@B baristas are also jumping on board. “Everyone loved the idea of giving up our tips and spare change for Mocha Club and I think we’ve started a little fire. I also love that they’re taking the initiative to sign up as members on their own. It was something that we all wanted to do together as a staff, but you’d be surprised how fast that $7 adds up.”
Funds raised by the CB@B team will go to support education, but Cutaia’s personal monthly donations support the cause she originally signed up for.
“Right now I’m supporting women at risk, but it’s really difficult to say that any one cause is more worthy than another,” Cutaia said — but she also supports other Mocha Club endeavors, including FashionABLE, a program that helps implement sustainable business opportunities for disadvantaged African women. “These women learn to make scarves to support themselves and I actually bought two of them, and they’re just beautiful. I always get compliments when I wear the FashionABLE scarves, and they’re coming out with new styles all the time. All of the Mocha Club programs are really cool — and it’s really easy to give. Every little bit helps.”
For more information on how to become a member of Mocha Club, Mocha Club programs and causes and for other ways to donate, go to www.themochaclub.org‘>www.themochaclub.org.
The Coffee Bar @Bailey’s, located at 2477 Periwinkle Way inside of Bailey’s General Store on Sanibel Island, is open every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.