Colombo’s favourite coffee house Barista Lavazza heralded in the dawn of 2015 with the need to make a difference. The team felt that with the commencement of the new school year, it was only right to contribute to society through a project to provide school essentials for children. Niyadhagala Vidyalaya, a remote school in the village of Thanamalwila was selected to be the recipient of this project.

The Campaign titled “The Coffee That Gives”, Barista pieced together a simple yet effective mode of creating the charity fund. At the core of the project lay customer engagement - a range of food and beverage items were tagged,with the purchase of each of these productsmaking a contribution of Rs.15going towards the charity fund. The management at Barista then pledged to match the total collection rupee for rupee. As the number of diners grew through the festive season, so did the fundwhich ultimately doubled through the company contribution.

A total of 125 school supply packs were purchased with the funds collected. Each pack comprised of a school bag, uniform material, lunch box, water bottle, exercise books, pens and pencils etc. A Rs. 1000 gift voucher for shoes wasalso included in the pack which would no doubt make a huge impact on the lives of these children who were used to wearing slippers or walking barefooted to school.

The project was generously supported by the Foundation of Goodness (FoG) who facilitated the project by managing the purchase of all items. FoG’s expertise ensured appropriate purchases for varying age groups.

On the 02ndof January 2015, the team at Barista gathered at the first light of dawn and set out to Thanamanwila. Arriving at Niyadhagala Vidyalaya, it was clear to see that this was an ideal school to benefit from the project. A single large hall made up the entire school with classes being separated only by spaces between each other. Greeted by the teachers with the traditional lighting of the oil lamp, the team then proceeded to handout the school packs to bright-eyed students whogathered around in excitement.

Speaking on the project, Brand Manager for Barista Lavazza Lien Keerthisinghe noted, “As the unpacking began, smiles broke out all around. It was amazing to see how simple things like a pink bag for girls and blue for the boys along with bags of candy could make such a difference. We are indeed humbly proud to have been able to make an impact in the lives of these beautiful children.”