Community spirit is on the menu for almost 200 cafes in Queensland, who are uniting to take action against homelessness through CafeSmart (1 – 7 August), raising money to support their local homeless charities and services.
Each cafe is encouraging customers to dig deep and help provide vital funding, while also donating $1 per coffee sold on Friday 5 August from their own bottom line.
Local cafes in the Sunshine Coast are taking part in CafeSmart including Entity Coffee Roasters, Clandestino Coffee and Padre Coffee Noosa.
Ben Clark, director of Entity Coffee Roasters, has been a long supporter of the initiative.
“CafeSmart is a program that I’ve loved supporting in my venues for over 10 years and I’m stoked to bring it to Entity Coffee in Sunshine Beach and our wholesale partners in 2022,” Ben said.
“A program that supports local grassroots organisations that tackle the issue of homelessness has never been more relevant.
“We are looking forward to everyone getting onboard and buying a cup of coffee from their local participating cafe this Friday.”
StreetSmart Australia chief executive officer Geoff Hills said CafeSmart was the biggest event in StreetSmart’s year.
“Each year I’m amazed at the buzz this event creates across both inner parts and regional parts of Australia,” he said.
“It’s my favourite part of my job, to see coffee drinkers and their local cafe come together and provide some support locally to grassroots homeless projects who are doing it tough in recent times yet powering as they face increased demands on services.”
Funds raised are kept local, meaning cafes are directly supporting homeless services in their region.
Over the past 11 years, CafeSmart has raised and distributed over $1.6 million to more than 1000 local projects by bringing together local cafe businesses and coffee drinkers, to help vulnerable people in their neighbourhood.
The pandemic has highlighted the critical role CafeSmart funding plays in supporting charities who provide essential services to some of the most disadvantaged Australians.
To join the fight against homelessness, find your local participating cafe via the CafeSmart interactive map or donate the cost of a coffee online, visit streetsmartaustralia.org/cafesmart/
