How Your Coffee Can Pay for Crucial Medicine by Tom Hawking
A blood sugar monitor, a 24-hour transport pass and a bed – these are the things your morning coffee can pay for. In partnership with CafeSmart, we talk to someone who makes it happen. Read More
This now takes our total funds distributed to $5,642,043, supporting 612 organisations. Read More
For over 16 years, DineSmart applies the simple model of asking diners to chip in an extra $1 on their bill and granting those donations to combat homelessness in the local community. Sadly, homelessness is on the rise and on any given night there are an estimated 116,000 people without a safe, secure place to call home. With unprecedented demand, and shrinking funding, the funds raised by DineSmart have become an essential lifeline for front line grassroots services and been a key source of funding for innovative ideas.
From November 21st – December 31st, 108 participating restaurants activated the campaign by educating diners on local community projects and seeking support- resulting in $245,054 being raised. This was a huge effort up 27% on 2017.
The last few weeks of the year are always a mad scramble, and here at StreetSmart, we’re no different. With DineSmart is in full swing, behind the scenes we’ve been busy wrapping up CafeSmart 2018. We recently announced our Fundraising Awards and most importantly – reviewing grants and distributing proceeds to local projects.
It’s always exciting to bring you this news, which is the culmination of a lot of work for us and over 850 small business partners across Australia. Thanks to this effort, CafeSmart Community Grants are now making their way to 159 projects. Read More
Photo by: nowandthenphotography.com.au
Cos We Care is a small Adelaide based charity that’s transforming lives and community attitudes about homelessness.
I spoke with one of the Founders, Ann Cooper about how she came to start Cos We Care and how it’s quietly transforming people and community in Adelaide. Read More
Jessica Macpherson, founder and CEO of St Kilda Mums
St Kilda Mums connects new and pre-loved baby goods with families in need, and was founded by a group of mums with the very simple idea that local families can help each other out.
With a little helping hand from funds raised through our DineSmart campaign, this volunteer powered organisation has grown to include Eureka Mums in Ballarat and Geelong Mums. Jessica Macpherson, founder and CEO of St Kilda Mums now oversees an organisation with over 2,500 volunteers. But it started with just a handful of goods she donated to the St Kilda Maternal and Child Health Centre. Read More
We are super excited to announce that professional funnyman and host of the ABC Tonightly Program has joined StreetSmart as an Ambassador. Read More
Here at StreetSmart we love this time of year. DineSmart is in full swing with 122 restaurants around the country busy raising funds for us and we get to announce our CafeSmart Community Grants – the culmination of all that hard work a few months ago. With the support of thousands of coffee drinkers and more than 763 cafes we were able to raise a record $215,500 back on 4th August. Our generous Sponsors sponsored, Roasters donated beans, baristas brewed, and thousands of people came together to raise funds and take action against homelessness.
The Grenet Foundation and the Australian Communities Foundation kicked in an additional $70,000 in matched funding through our ‘Collective’ – bringing our CafeSmart total to $285,500 for local homelessness projects.
We have been able to support 156 organisations across Australia, including 46 new organisations and 12 Lead Grant projects. A massive thank you to everyone who got involved and made these grants possible – here is where your dollars are headed….
On the 4th August 763 cafes and 50 Coffee Roasters teamed up with their customers to raise over $200,000. HOW GOOD IS THAT! It was a massive community effort resulting in an increase in donations of 25% (on 2016 results) so we are all pretty chuffed!
A huge thanks and a hearty slap on the back to everyone who participated and chipped into the CafeSmart pot, all those micro donations really add up. We are now busy working to distribute these funds to support local homeless services and will announce recipients in late November. CafeSmart is all about the $1 micro donation and how we can all take action and chip in to make a difference. We love and appreciate all our CafeSmart supporters and participants, and it is certainly the case that the sum is more than the parts, however, we also like to acknowledge our top contributors…
The drivers of CafeSmart are our Roaster Partners. They help us connect with the industry and cafes across the country. Coffee Roasters are the engine room of CafeSmart. Our 2017 Roaster Champs were the awesome crew at Single O who recruited and supported 64 of their wholesale customers. A close second and runners up were long-time supporters Five Senses. Our Top Five Coffee Roasters were…
The Single O team take out the Top Roaster Award
This year we had 30% more cafes involved across Australia with a big jump in NSW and QLD. This means that more homeless projects in those States will be funded and more people helped. Every café who gets involved has an impact on their community, and in some cases cafes go beyond the call of duty. Hats off to our top fundraisers…
The team at Yellow Bernard in Hobart were once again our National Fundraising Champions raising a staggeringly huge $1,686, and Two Chaps in Marrickville were our Runners Up raising an equally amazing $1,541. Single O CBD in Sydney were our ‘Beat Your Best’ Champs increasing their Year on Year tally by the most, and the ‘Best New Café’ went to The Grounds in the City in Sydney. This year we also introduced the ‘Collection Box Challenge’ which was won by On The Go Espresso in Marcoola, Sunshine Coast, who collected $822.50 from their very generous customers. We also acknowledge cafes and people who shone as our Community Champions – putting in a huge effort to make CafeSmart such a success.
David and team at Yellow Bernard, Hobart, Top Fundraisers Award
| Fundraising Awards | Café Name |
|---|---|
| National Fundraising Champions | Yellow Bernard |
| National Top Fundraiser Runners Up | Two Chaps Cafe |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers - No. 3 | The Grounds of Alexandria |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers - No. 4 | Kwik Koffee Busselton |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers - No.5 | Higher Ground |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers - No.6 | The Grounds of the City |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers - No. 7 | Yelo |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers - No.8 | Single O - Surry Hills |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers - No.9 | Axil Coffee Roasters - HQ |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers - No. 10 | Top Paddock |
| Beat Your Best Champs | Single O - CBD CAFÉ |
| Beat Your best runners up | On The Go Espresso |
| Beat Your Best - No.3 | Kwik Koffee Busselton |
| Beat Your Best - No.4 | Flock Espresso & Eats |
| Beat Your Best - No.5 | The Cog |
| National Best New Café | The Grounds of the City |
| Best New Café runners up | Axil Coffee Roasters - Chadstone |
| Best New Café - No.3 | Le Grove Cafe |
| Best New Café - No.4 | Padre Coffee Sth Melb Mkt |
| Best New Café - No.5 | Milky Joe's |
| State Champs | |
| ACT | Stand By Me |
| NSW | Two Chaps Café |
| NT | Laneway Specialty Coffee |
| QLD | On The Go Espresso |
| SA | Taste the Yorke |
| TAS | Yellow Bernard |
| VIC | Higher Ground |
| WA | Kwik Koffee Busselton |
| Collection Box Challenge - Winner | On The Go Espresso |
| Collection Box Challenge- Runner up | Yellow Bernard |
| Collection Box Challenge - 3rd | Taste the Yorke |
| Collection Box Challenge - 4th | Kwik Koffee Busselton |
| Collection Box Challenge - 5th | Single O - Surry Hills |
| Community Champions Awards | Alowishus Delicious |
| Danni Mann - Besser Kitchen | |
| Dave Humphrys - On the Go Espresso | |
| Mrs P's | |
| Pioneer Coffee Roasters | |
| Stand By Me Café | |
| Two Chaps Café | |
| Vertue of the Coffee Drink | |
| Yellow Bernard |
We couldn’t raise these funds without the support of our event sponsors so a huge shout out and thanks to SKIP (our Principal Sponsors), Broadsheet, La Marzocco and Ordermate for their financial support and commitment to the event and cause, and for the help from supporters Cargo Crew and Beanscene.
We had over 1250+ photos posted to social media – check out the winners here.
And a selection from the event in our Facebook Photo Album
Finally – thanks to everyone who drank a brew or two on the day and chipped in to help us support people across our communities doing it tough.
Besser Kitchen & Brew Bar on CafeSmart campaign day, 2016
Danielle Mann is co-owner of two of Darwin’s first specialty coffee cafes – Besser Kitchen & Brew Bar and Laneway Speciality Coffee. Both premises serve up high-quality Campos Coffee and are among CafeSmarts most committed participants.
Danielle has been a part of CafeSmart for six years, first joining us when she was operating a cafe in Sydney. “When I moved back to Darwin, getting our new cafes on board with CafeSmart was one of the first things we did. Even though is a national campaign – you know that it is supporting people in your own backyard and that is really important.
In our area, we have supported two projects that support women and children escaping domestic violence. That is such important impact, and small grants can make a big difference.”
Up North, our CafeSmart grants support the Aboriginal and Islander Women’s Shelter and Dawn House. The Northern Territory has the highest rates of domestic violence in the country, which is why our grants are lending a hand to the work these organisations do. Last year Dawn House supported 500 families in their crisis and transitional housing and our CafeSmart grant helped to fund their children’s school holiday program.
Susan Crane from Dawn House said a bit of fun can make a big difference to children experiencing crisis. “Most of the mother’s we see are on income support, so they would not normally be able to access these types of programs. For children recovering from trauma, getting out of the shelter to go skating and have a bit fun is really positive.”
When CafeSmart sign-up time rolls around each year, Danielle’s two premises are the first to populate our map of participating cafes. She explains that it’s an opportunity to raise funds, awareness, and to be a little creative in supporting the local community.
“CafeSmart is a great way to get raise awareness, involve customers, and it’s a great uplifting event for the staff too. This year, I think we’ll get everyone dressed up in the bright CafeSmart yellow.”
Although her two busy cafes are among the top fundraisers – Danielle is keen to drum up more support for the CafeSmart cause in the Darwin area.
“Darwin is a such a small place, so I know lots of the other cafe owners personally. Through those personal connections and talking about what our cafes are doing – I hope to encourage another 10 cafe’s in Darwin to come on board and raise $5000 for our area.”
One of the humbling things about CafeSmart is that it is a nationwide campaign, driven by local people who care about their community. I asked Danielle what drives her commitment to the campaign.
“The stigma around homelessness doesn’t really match the reality – homelessness can impact anyone. I just want to do what I can, and I think CafeSmart is a simple way to do that”
We will be bringing you more #LocalHero stories in the coming weeks – from cafes big and small.
You can #HelpYourHood this #CafeSmart campaign by signing up your café, or looking for your local this August 4.
StreetSmart is an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming workplace that values diversity of expression. We know that members of the LGBTQIA+ community are particularly vulnerable to experiencing homelessness and we partner with organisations that work to support people in need, without discrimination or prejudice.
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the unceded lands on which our organisation is located and where we conduct our business. We pay our respects to Elders, past and present. StreetSmart is committed to honouring Indigenous peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas and their rich contribution to society.
StreetSmart is an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming workplace that values diversity of expression. We know that members of the LGBTQIA+ community are particularly vulnerable to experiencing homelessness and we partner with organisations that work to support people in need, without discrimination or prejudice.
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the unceded lands on which our organisation is located and where we conduct our business. We pay our respects to Elders, past and present. StreetSmart is committed to honouring Indigenous peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas and their rich contribution to society.
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