Chops, Inc. 
Our blend with Chops, Inc. was on our shelves for the month of January 2024!

Chops, Inc. is on a mission to improve lives through music education and the performing arts in Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools. Chops provides free percussion education and performance opportunities for Twin Cities youth and their after-school and artist-in-residence programs teach urban youth to play steel drums, snare, tenors and bass drums. At Dogwood, we love Chops, Inc.’s restorative work and their focus on Twin Cities public schools. 

Learn more about Chops, Inc. here!

AuSM:
Our blend with AuSM is was our Coffee for Others Shelf for the month of November 2023!

Established in 1971, the Autism Society of Minnesota enhances the lives of individuals and families affected by autism throughout Minnesota, with a fundamental commitment to advocacy, education, support, collaboration, and community building. Dogwood has been hosting a bimonthly Adult Coffee Club with AuSM since February 2023, so we were excited to partner together in a new way to offer the AuSM blend!

You can learn more about AuSM, sign up to volunteer with them, or donate here!

Our blend with Every Meal was on our Coffee for Others Shelf for the month of September 2023!

Every Meal is a Minnesota based non-profit organization with a mission to fight child hunger through community and school partnerships. More than 300,000 children in Minnesota live with food insecurity and Every Meal is changing that by filling the food gaps children face when they're not able to access school meals. Volunteers at more than 500 locations in Minnesota place tailored food bags directly in children's backpacks to have for the weekend. Through their food gap programs, Every Meal is able to provide food that is nutritious, delicious, and relevant. At Dogwood, we value the way Every Meal focuses on the dignity of the children and families they provide food to.

You can learn more about Every Meal, sign up to volunteer with them, or donate here!

We featured our blend with SOL of the Cities on our Coffee for Others Shelf in July 2023!

SOL of the Cities is an emerging youth development organization based in the Twin Cities that provides year round, zero-barrier access for youth ages 6-18 to participate in competitive and recreational soccer and futsal opportunities. SOL utilizes a social currency model to teach, mentor, empower, and change the narratives and outcomes of youth marginalized and economically disenfranchised. They offer soccer and futsal programming, meals, career exploration, internships, as well as traditional and nontraditional education cost-free to meet youth where they are. SOL is philanthropically funded through the support of friends of SOL, small and large corporate sponsors, grants, and in-kind donations. For Dogwood’s part, we’re not only thrilled to be a sponsor of SOL, but also a friend.

You can learn more about SOL, donate, or sign up to serve with SOL here.

Our Caw-Caw Cawfee blend with Minneapolis City Soccer Club was created to support their Futures Program: “A one-of-a-kind player development initiative, designed for Minnesota-based players age 20 and under.” 

Dogwood ran this blend on our Coffee for Others shelf for the month of March 2023 to introduce our community to Mpls City SC and the Futures Program. The Futures Program helps build resumes, provides exposure, and meets a need in our community. As if it isn’t enough to believe in the work the Futures Program is doing, we also just love soccer. Both soccer and coffee are great ways to bring a lot of different people together! Dogwood’s belief in Mpls City’s mission along with our shared values and combined love of soccer makes for a great partnership. 

You can learn more about and support the Futures Program and Mpls City SC here. Maybe you’ll become a fan of The Crows while you’re at it—at least that’s what we’re hoping! 

Our Dreams blend was created in collaboration with The Dripping Root to support Catiesha Pierson’s (owner of The Dripping Root) dreams for her south Minneapolis juice bar. We ran the blend on our Coffee for Others shelf mid-November 2022 through the end of the year to raise funds for The Dripping Root’s retail space. 

Dogwood has been and continues to be a champion of The Dripping Root because we value their energy, their enthusiasm, and their vision to make a difference in the community. Catiesha is a dreamer, and we were honored to be a very small part of supporting her pursuit to see her dreams become reality. 

Grab some juice from The Dripping Root and learn more about this amazing juice bar here. 

Dogwood featured Wildflyer’s coffee beans on our Coffee for Others Shelf for a couple of weeks at the end of October 2022. We wanted to feature Wildflyer’s coffee beans to introduce our customers to their coffee and to create buzz around the announcement of their second cafe location. They have been a part of the Minneapolis Longfellow neighborhood since 2020 (Wildflyer West) and they opened a second cafe in St. Paul in March of 2023 (Wildflyer East).

Wildflyer Coffee Co. creates employment opportunities for youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability through the cultivation of life skills and personal empowerment. We love the work Wildflyer does in the Twin Cities and we’re always happy to support them in any way we can. 

You can learn more about Wildflyer here, and we’d recommend checking out one of their cafes when you get the chance. 

The coffee that started it all—in December 2021, we created the Sweet William blend with Minneapolis based artist Maggie Thompson; Maggie was raising funds at the time to purchase an Industrial Stoll Knitting Machine. Here’s what she had to say about the need behind raising funds for this equipment:

“I believe introducing this technology to my community and making it accessible to other artists will create financial stability, push artistic boundaries, allow for collaborations, and provide an efficient and effective response to community needs.”

We had a blast selling this blend with Maggie, a good friend of Dogwood, and a member of our Coffee for Others Council in addition to being an exceptionally talented artist. 

Maggie was able to raise one hundred percent the funds she needed for the Industrial Stoll Knitting Machine and we’ve since been able to enjoy additional collaboration opportunities between Makwa Studio and Dogwood. You can learn more about Makwa Studio here.