The recently released documentary Black Gold (http://www.blackgoldmovie.com) will be screened in Traverse City, Michigan at the Milliken Auditorium on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College on December 5th. Higher Grounds Trading Co. will be matching up to $3000 in donations raised that night for the benefit of Ethiopian children.

Higher Grounds Trading Co. has teamed up with the Great Lakes Bioneers and the Neahatwanta Center to turn the screening of Black Gold into a fundraiser to raise $20,000 for a much-needed school for the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU) in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Fair Trade export cooperative takes the lead role in Black Gold, as the documentary tells the story of how coffee is the 2nd most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil, and yet coffee farmers across the globe continue to be paid prices so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields. Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela, the central character in the film is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy.

Local fair trade coffee roasting company, Higher Grounds Trading Co. has been working with Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union for the past three years, visiting Ethiopia and bringing Tadesse Meskela to Traverse City to speak about his work for Ethiopian coffee farmers. Coffee from Tadesse and the farmers featured in the film are available in grocery stores, cafes, and restaurants throughout Northern Michigan. At the request of Tadesse Meskela, Higher Grounds Trading Co. has been raising funds for much needed schools in communities where their coffee is grown.

With only 65% of primary age children having access to school and a literacy rate of just 34%, education has been identified by the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union as a central means to developing their communities. Jody Treter, who met with children and teachers in Ethiopia reflects, “Many children do not have access to the most basic education. Collectively, we have the power to directly change the lives of hundreds of young children in Ethiopia by supporting this project.”

Doors will open at 6:30 for Ethiopian coffee and the film will begin at 7PM. Open to the public with donations accepted at the door. Donation envelopes will be available at the door or at Oryana Food Cooperative, Green Island or Unity Fair Trade Marketplace.

If you are unable to attend, but would still like to donate, please send your tax-deductible contribution to Higher Grounds Trading Co. 1088 S. Sawmill Road · Lake Leelanau, MI, 49653 with a check made out to the non-profit, Neahatawanta Center.

contact name: Chris Treter
contact email: ctreter@highergroundstrading.com
contact phone: (231) 256-9687

http://www.glbconference.org