Pace High School and its Campus Minister, Andres Novela, have worked tirelessly for years to give back to Pace’s Haitian sister schools, Moulin and Pewou, through fundraisers and missions to Haiti.
Last year, Pace Campus Ministry started the school’s first-ever coffee shop to sell “just.ice.coffee,” a new way to raise money and awareness for this cause. The iced coffee is more than just a simple fundraiser; it is made with the organic fair-trade Café Cocano, the coffee grown in Pace’s sister diocese of Port-de-paix.
“Most people don’t know that Haiti produces coffee and this allows our school community to consider one of the many resources that Haiti has to offer,” said Novela.
Novela learned about Café Cocano coffee on a trip to Port-de-Paix in 2011 when he met with the coffee farmers and their cooperative president. After learning that St. Thomas University was selling the coffee through its Center for Community Engagement, he decided that Campus Ministry should start selling it at Pace in order to “connect the work of the farmers with our work with the sister schools.”
The money from the sales goes toward teacher salaries and schools supplies for the Haitian sister schools and building construction, nutrition programs, and agricultural projects for the sister dioceses and their communities.
The “just.ice” dual-meaning comes from the fact that the coffee is cold-brewed and direct trade, as the cocoa farmers receive a just and fair wage for their work, or “justice” which ends up contributing to the economic development of the community.
Unlike traditional iced coffee, which is brewed hot and then put on ice, just.ice.coffee is cold-brewed at room temperature for 7 hours with cold water, giving it a smoother taste and velvety finish. The coffee, creamer, and sugar used to make the syrup are all organic and even the 100 percent compostable and biodegradable cups and sustainable stir sticks are eco-friendly.
“We’ve tried to make sure that the coffee and all of its ingredients are good for those who enjoy it,” said Novela. “We’ve cut no corners to assure this happens.”
Pace has a long, storied history of continued support for Haiti. Teachers can donate directly to Haiti through automatic donations taken from their bi-weekly paychecks. During Catholic Schools Week, the school and Campus Ministry sells t-shirts, Haitian-made artwork, and other items at the Fair Trade Bazaar, and offer a simple lunch of rice and beans on that week’s Solidarity day in order raise awareness of how the children of Moulin and Pewou live every day.
In addition, many school events throughout the year such as Battle of the Bands, the Pace Film Festival, and the mass collections during the Junior Ring Ceremony and Baccalaureate Masses raise funds for the Haitian sister schools.
For this school year, Campus Ministry began selling just.ice.coffee in the Pace plaza regularly on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, upping their production of brewed coffee to 3 gallons a day. Each cup of coffee sells for $3, with 85 percent going to the Haitian sister schools and 15 percent being used to purchase the coffee beans and supplies.
Through social media, announcements, and word of mouth, the sales have made regular customers out of students and teachers. Cupcakes, cookies, and themed-music days where jazz, 90’s hip-hop, and Haitian music play in the plaza have also brought more customers.
While he is currently running the just.ice.coffee shop, Novela eventually wants to train a group of students as baristas so that they can run the shop themselves.