We spend upwards of 1 Million USD per year towards our goal breaking the cycle of poverty in coffee communities with direct aid towards educational, nutritional, and healthcare programs. Our philosophy is to work directly with communities to oversee the proper distribution of funds, rather than simply sending money and hoping the funds are spent on development efforts. For instance, out of our offices in California, we physically pay invoices for bags of cement and lumber that are used to build schools in Panama or Nicaragua. In this way, we know exactly where and how our funds are being spent.

With over 10 years experience working on the problems of poverty in these communities, we’ve learned a lot. Specifically, we’ve learned the cycle of poverty can be broken when certain common sense steps are taken. These include…

Children's Nutrition
Provide ongoing meal programs to intervene early to provide a healthy, nutritional foundation for growing bodies and minds. Provide foods that are appropriate for the specific age groups within the daycare, preschools, and primary schools.

Daycare and Preschools
Provide daycare and daycare provider salaries so that the youngest children of the workers are safe and well-cared for throughout the day while parents are working. Provide pre-schools so that young, precocious minds are challenged while parents are working.

Healthcare
Provide safe, clean, worker housing as well as sanitary latrines to ensure disease is not spread through the community. Provide new kitchens devoid of lung-disease causing smoke. Provide medical clinics, doctors’ salaries, and living quarters to provide quality medical care before bigger health problems emerge.

Education
Build schools where there are no schools, and rebuild those in disrepair. Provide school supplies including desks and chalkboards. Provide and/or subsidize teachers’ salaries, and teachers’ living quarters to improve primary and secondary education. Provide bonus incentive programs to students for good attendance. These bonuses are based on the amount they would earn if they were picking coffee instead of attending school. In this way, a worker's family income is not reduced when a child doesn't work, and their children receive an education. Provide scholarships to attend higher education for deserving students from our partner communities.

Our Community Aid program is partially supported by the Rogers Family Company’s products sold throughout the country, so our customers coast to coast play a direct role in helping the people who help fill their coffee cup.

Over the years, we’ve had many customers ask how they can more directly contribute to Community Aid. So, we established the Rogers' Charitable Fund, a non-profit organization. 100% of donated funds are directed to programs that directly improve the living conditions of farmers and workers as well as provide educational grants to deserving students from coffee growing communities.