On the 3rd of August, 815 cafes and 50 Coffee Roasters teamed up with their customers to raise over $205,000 for local grassroots homeless projects. It was a massive community effort and by working together we are going to impact many lives.
Thank You All!
A huge thanks and a hearty slap on the back to everyone who brewed, sipped and donated to this years’ CafeSmart grants pool. $1 is a small donation, but with the collective power of over 800 cafes and thousands of coffee drinkers, it really adds up.
CafeSmart is all about bringing people together to raise awareness and funds to combat homelessness and make a difference to our local communities. We believe that by coming together at the community level, we can play a big role in ending homelessness.
We appreciate every one of our CafeSmart supporters and participants, together we make a real difference.
We are now busy working to distribute these funds to support local homeless services and will announce recipients in mid-December. But with results in – we are pleased to announce the winners of our fundraising awards.
Roaster Awards
Our Roaster Partners are the engine room of CafeSmart. They help us connect with the industry and cafes across the country, and it’s no exaggeration to say that CafeSmart wouldn’t exist without their enthusiasm and support.
This year we welcomed a number of new Roaster Partners who joined a band of great contributors. We are pleased that many new regional roasters have joined us, making an important contribution to rural and regional communities that we couldn’t reach out to without their support.
Our 2018 Roaster Champs are the crew at Single O who recruited and supported 68 of their wholesale customers. A close second and runners-up were long-time supporters Five Senses with 59 cafes. Our Top Coffee Roaster partners were…
| National Roaster Champions | Single O |
| National Roaster Champions – Runners Up | Five Senses |
| Top 5 Roaster Partner | Allpress |
| Top 5 Roaster Partner | Campos Coffee |
| Top 5· Roaster Partner | Axil Coffee Roasters |
Café Fundraising Awards
This year we had a record number of 806 cafes signed up for the event. Every café who gets involved has an impact on their community, and in some cases, cafes go beyond the call of duty, so hats off to our top fundraisers.
Our National Fundraising Champions are the team at Monica’s Cafe in Maleny (QLD), raising a staggeringly $2,550. Their secret weapon was young Ava – a big-hearted 9-year-old, who baked and sold CafeSmart cupcakes raising an incredible $900 on the day!
Lisa, Ava and Geo from Monica’s Café – this year’s National Fundraising Champs
Our National Fundraising Champions Runners Up were Baked In Sorrento (VIC) raising a whopping $2,000. This was their first CafeSmart, and with such an incredible result they’ve also taken the Best New Cafe Award.
Monica’s Cafe and Baked In Sorrento also took out the Collection Box Challenge Champions Award both raising an additional $1200 each from customers.
Here’s the full list of fundraiser awards – great work and well done on and outstanding result to all!
| Fundraising Awans | Café Name |
| National Fundraising CHAMPS | Monica’s Café (QLD) |
| National Top Fundraiser Runners Up | Baked In Sorrento (VIC) |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers – No. 3 | Kwik Koffee Busselton (WA) |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers – No. 4 | Yelo Trigg (WA) |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers – No.5 | Yellow Bernard (TAS) |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers – No.6 | Single O – Surry Hills (NSW) |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers – No. 7 | The Grounds of the City (NSW) |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers – No.8 | Axil Coffee Roasters – HQ (VIC) |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers – No.9 | The Grounds of Alexandria (NSW) |
| Top 10 National Fundraisers – No. 10 | Stand By Me (ACT) |
| Collection Box Challenge JOINT CHAMPS | Monica’s Café (QLD)
Baked In Sorrento (VIC) |
| Collection Box Challenge – No.3 | Chapter Three Espresso & Bar (VIC) |
| Collection Box Challenge – No.4 | Yellow Bernard (TAS) |
| Collection Box Challenge – No.5 | Kwik Koffee Busselton (WA) |
| National Best New Café | Baked In Sorrento (VIC) |
| Best New Café runners up | Brew Bros Licenced Eatery |
| Best New Café – No.3 | Lilly’s Espresso & Cucina |
| Best New Café – No.4 | Chapter Three Espresso & Bar |
| Best New Café – No.5 | Pablo & Rusty’s Sydney CBD |
| State Champs | |
| ACT | Stand By Me |
| NSW | Single O – Surry Hills |
| NT | Laneway Specialty Coffee |
| QLD | Monica’s Café |
| SA | Taste of Yorke |
| TAS | Yellow Bernard |
| VIC | Baked In Sorrento |
| WA | Kwik Koffee Busselton |
Our Awesome Sponsors
We couldn’t organise CafeSmart and raise these funds without the support of our event sponsors – so a huge shout out and thanks to SKIP (our Principal Sponsors), La Marzocco and Broadsheet for their financial support and commitment to the event and cause, and for the help from friends at Cargo Crew, Joco, 360 South and Beanscene.
Photo Competition
We had over 1000+ photos posted to social media using #CafeSmart– 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. The CafeSmart Community Grants will be announced in early December.
