Hurricane Sandy has effected restaurants, bars, and other food service establishments, and coffee bars, roasters, and other coffeeshops have been hurt, some badly. While insurance and FEMA-related projects will be able to assist shops with their physical losses and damage, the same cannot be said for the staff and coffee professionals effected by the storm.
Disaster Unemployment Insurance will only cover lost wages on paper, but it will not make up for the bread and butter of baristas, who like other food service professionals like bartenders, make the vast majority of their take-home income in tips. Whether due to shop closures, disrupted or destroyed transit, lower in-store traffic since the storm, or other variables, baristas across the board have seen little to no tips during the storm, and reduced tips since the occurance of the storm. An hourly tip out can be as much or double what a barista might make an hour, so the loss of one day can mean the difference between getting groceries or not; the loss of a week, being able to make rent or not. And no person, especially in these times, should be forced to make this choice.
The purpose of this fund is to provide immediate material support for all baristas and coffee professionals effected by losses due directly or indirectly by Hurrican Sandy. Cross-referencing with employers, we will make microgrants of $US100-200 on a case by case basis to baristas and other coffee pros based upon need. No person should have to choose between groceries or rent, laundry or a transit pass.
FOR THOSE DONATING: Any amount is awesome, and while you will not see any perks immediately, we are speaking to a number of awesome coffee roasters and other parties for perks for donators. Think of this as paying it forward, or doing something good for someone who needs it.
FOR BARISTAS SEEKING GRANTS: Please e-mail us here and document your shop, hours missed, a work contact, and other relevant details of how and what a grant of any sum would cover. PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. I myself missed several days of work, and will not be taking from this fund thanks to the fact that I have a graduate student stipend. We are trying to make this process as transparent as possible to ensure that those donating feel their money is going towards parties in need. Please contact us with any questions.
FOR ALL PARTIES: There will be a number of Thursday Night Throwdowns (TNT's) in cities across the United States and in the UK, Canada and elsewhere. Many of them will be doing so to benefit barista relief in NYC. If you do not feel comfortable donating here, PLEASE GO TO AN EVENT IN YOUR LOCALITY. Dates and times will be posted here frequently, with many happening this week, on November 15th, 2012. Other efforts will be ongoing, including those with Occupy Sandy, and we encourage you to also look into these groups, as they have been doing amazing, directed work.