(1888PressRelease)
November 11, 2007 - Mission Grounds Helps Children
Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee is a non profit organization, a 501 C Corporation, dedicated to helping children. Our main focus is to help orphans and children in need the most: impoverished children in third world countries and homeless children in inner city neighborhoods in the United States.
Mission Grounds is currently helping children in the US, China, Russia, Costa Rica, South Africa, Kenya and Venezuela. We provide support in many ways; from food to shelter and clothing to books and school supplies. We also provide monthly support to orphans in Africa, Russia, Costa Rica, China and Venezuela.
We are currently engaged in two large construction projects which include building our second school in China and our first orphanage in Venezuela. Both projects should be completed by Summer 2008. Plans are also under way to build another school in China and another orphanage in Venezuela with a kick-off for both planned for Spring 2008. We are also looking at construction projects in South Africa, Nigeria and in The Sudan.
In Atlanta, Mission Grounds is working with a homeless shelter for children, the Jars of Clay shelter. We have contributed new appliances for the shelter’s kitchen, provided craft materials for after school fun and supplied book bags which included school supplies and children’s books for over 300 children. We have also recently supplied them with winter clothes and coats; built 2 playgrounds and put up a safety fence around the perimeter.
Through our monthly newsletter, we have found 2 groups of adults who are now donating their time. They read to the children, help them with their homework and provide them with the attention they need. We are also working with children’s groups in Buffalo and in New Orleans providing books, book bags, clothes and shoes and other school supplies.
Mission Grounds receives its money to operate from donations and from the sale of coffee. There are not any salaries and overhead is kept to a minimum. So almost 100% of our proceeds go to children and because we are self sustaining – 100% of any donation goes to the children. We hope to expand our mission of helping children in other United State cities; having begun research of two shelters in Pittsburgh and Charlotte.
Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee is the finest Tarrazu gourmet coffee coming out of Costa Rica. Tarrazu is considered the best Costa Rican coffee and comes in five grades of quality. The best grade of coffee grows on top of the mountain; at the slowest growth rate – ensuring a rich flavorful taste without any bitterness or aftertaste.
We only sell the highest level of coffee; unfortunately there is not enough of it grown on top of the mountain peak to meet the needs of the large retail chains; who must buy the level 2 or level 3 coffees to get enough quantity and to ensure their consistency. Mission Grounds is one of the only places to buy this highest level of the Best Costa Rican Tarrazu coffee. Costa Rica is known to have some of the finest coffee in the world; Tarrazu is considered the best of the Costa Rica coffees and Mission Grounds is the best Tarrazu coffee.
Mission Grounds is currently located in 25 Kroger Grocery stores in Atlanta, Roswell, Alpharetta, Norcross, Dunwoody and Duluth, Georgia. It’s sold in over twenty churches, ten retail centers and three restaurants. We have just expanded into the Sandy Springs, Buckhead and Cumming locations. Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee can also be ordered on line at www.missiongrounds.com.
The coffee helping children everywhere!
Mission Grounds Helps Children
(in China – The School Project)
Our objective is to help impoverished children throughout the world by building orphanages and schools. Through a connection made with a loyal customer we were able to help children in China. We are focusing on the Yunnan Province – still very remote, rural and untouched by the economic revolution going on in China. And because of its poor state it has been ignored by the Chinese government in terms of support and economic aid. The infrastructure and school systems are non existent in this province.
We have already built one such school in the Yunnan Province with a second just in the beginning stages of construction and a third and fourth school under planning. A description with pictures follows.
Working with an American whose life’s work is centered in managing an orphanage in the Yunnan Province; we were able to rally the village to help build the first school in DoGuDi Zhu, a remote village north of Kunming. This mountainous area is cut off to visitors during the rainy season unless you are prepared to walk up the last miles in the mud along an almost impassable road. The school was finished toward the end of 2006 in a combined effort with the village that provided the labor while we provided the building materials.
As we continue to gain momentum for such a worthy cause we have selected and broken ground on a second location in the village of XinTang in an area called MiLe about a 4 hours drive from Kunming. This village has about 130 children from first to third grade. We selected this site because they had NO school and these children we being taught at the home of the teacher, which was totally inadequate for teaching 130 children from ages 6 to 8. The school should be completed before the end of Spring 2008. This will be a 2-story, 1800 square foot school costing approximately $14,000. On this school we have partnered with the local Chinese government. We have committed to the first $10,000 in costs and they will cover any costs beyond that. They will also supply all desks and furnishings, the necessary teachers, school supplies and books.
A third school venture has been identified in the County of ZiWu in a village called DaZuo in the Yunnan Province We are in a preliminary study and awaiting a proposed budget. The local government seems to be willing to contribute 50% of the cost of this project. Most of these children come from surrounding villages far enough away that they have to come to school on Monday and cannot go home until Friday – staying in a school dorm. The problem in DaZuo is not the school but the dormitory. It is very unsafe for the children and the need is to provide a safe environment and living conditions. The young children sleep on dirt floors in a building that is close to collapsing. We are also rallying the villagers to see how much labor they will provide.
A fourth project is being discussed in the village of YiShe. Again, there are over 100 children who come and live for the week in very unsafe living conditions. There are major cracks in the walls and structure. The solution proposed is to tear down the old dorms and build a new teaching facility (a school) and convert the old school into a safe and secure dormitory. We are currently awaiting a written proposal with costs. The government has also agreed to cover half the costs.
We have also completed a 2 week journey across the Yunnan Province identifying villages that may need new schools, remodeled schools or renovated dorms. There are at least 14 villages in dire need of a school construction project, another 3 villages that need dorms and 7 that need upgrading either the school or dorm.
Only very preliminary analysis has been done on these villages and a more in depth study will be completed once funding is available and government support has been obtained.
Mission Grounds and PF Chang’s Helps Children
(In China – Future School Partnership)
Since we have met several times at P.F. Chang Restaurant for planning these schools, we found it very interesting to see that a special section of the menu was dedicated to food from Yunnan. We were hoping you might share our interest in helping Chinese children from Yunnan with new schools or dorms. The three most valuable things we can bring to the partnership: a viable way to get the money to the remote villages in China; the support of the local Chinese government to help with funding, construction management and ongoing support of the school once it’s completed; and on the ground management of the construction of the schools. We will also guarantee you that 100 percent of any contribution would go to the construction of the schools – no one involved is drawing a salary nor is there any overhead.
We have listed several options for you to consider in partnering with us:
• Serving our coffee in your restaurants and we will have the proceeds go to the schools
• Donating $10,000 for the new school for children
• Donating $50,000 to $100,000 and making a major impact in the education of the Yunnan Province
With your participation we can provide a detailed budget, a record of all expenses incurred, pictures of the construction and even coordinate a site visit.
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