Maile Dorland, a 6th grade student at Pioneer Montessori School in Ketchum, ID, is helping kids half way around the globe. Ask her what she thinks about this, and she’ll reply a little surprised herself. As part of a school community service project, each student at the school is required to do something to help the community – whether that’s on a local, national, or international level.
“I wanted to do something different than what my friends were doing,” says Maile. After a visit to a local coffee roaster, Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee, the idea of doing some kind of project within the global coffee community came up, and she was inspired.
“Giving back to our community is important to us,” says Liz Roquet, owner of Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee. “Most often that includes our local community, but we also want to do what we can to give back to coffee growing regions around the world. When a student is inspired to do this kind of work, we’re excited to support it.”
Maile decided to create a special label for coffee, and with the proceeds from the sales, she’d donate money for schools supplies to kids in Uganda at the Bukonzo Joint Cooperative. She worked together with Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee to put the project together, which included designing the label, and writing the text for the website. She also spent a morning at the Lizzy’s roastery labeling and bagging coffee herself to sell in person at her school.
When asked about what impact she thinks the supplies will have, Maile says: “Education is important because it helps everyone to have a better life. It makes it easier to learn when you have the right supplies to help you do that.” Maile adds with a shy and proud smile, “I hope that that kids are happy and surprised.”
Maile’s School Beans Coffee can be purchased through mid-May, roasted fresh for nationwide shipping or local pickup at Lizzy's Fresh Coffee.