AthFest Educates and Jittery Joe's Coffee are partnering to provide grants to arts and music programs in schools in the Athens area.
A portion of the profits from Create Coffee, a blend of Central and South American coffee from Jittery Joe's, will go toward funding for the grants.
Jill Helme, executive director of AthFest Educates and a former high school teacher, says the initiative is rewarding and exemplifies what AthFest Educates is about.
"It's such a testament to people really understanding over the last five years, 10 years, what AthFest Educates is and what we do and what we're trying so hard to support," Helme said.
A 12-oz bag of the coffee can be bought for $13.99 online, at the Jittery Joe's roaster and stores, SIPS Espresso Cafe on Prince Avenue and Kroger. 50 cents from each purchase will contribute to the funding for the grants.
For schools that want to sell the coffee as a fundraiser, $3 of every bag sold will go directly toward the student organization in addition to the 50 cents donated to AthFest Educates.
"It's fantastic at the way that this coffee can support so many different groups in town," Helme said. "It's not, by any means, just AthFest Educates that's going to be able to be supported by this."
To date, the nonprofit has generated $370,000 in funding and expects to hit $410-415,000 in the coming weeks. This funding helps aid its mission of supporting arts and music programs in kindergarten through 8th grade programs. It is looking to expanding through 12th grade.
