Beans-and-Bites

Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Beans-and-Bites, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause which means so much to me.

The mission statement of Beans-and-Bites is to provide workforce opportunities in a safe, social environment, building life skills while increasing community awareness and reducing the unemployment rate of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

In 2022, Kris Sayers decided it was time to put her lifelong dream into motion about opening a coffee cafe' that employs this unique community of awesome individuals. Kris met Brittany Cochran who had a similar dream to have a bakery. Brittany has an associate's Degree in Culinary Arts and a Bachelor's Degree in Home Economics. Since August 8, 2022, Kris and Brittany have been working on educating the community about the desire to offer employment and assist in building life skills for the intellectually and developmentally disabled. In Grundy County, there is an 80% unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities. We would like to do our part in lowering that statistic, creating meaningful life opportunities for these fine folks, and providing a great environment for families to teach their children about disabilities while enjoying some great beverages and delicious pastries.

As we set up our board of directors and began preparing for this adventure, it was decided that we would create this business in three phases: Phase I is pop-up events where we serve coffee, and pastries at local soccer events, and have recently started doing private events for businesses. Phase II is identifying a location where we can have a drive-through facility and customers can purchase their desired items and continue about their day. Phase III is moving into a brick-and-mortar building where we can have a fully operating bakery/kitchen, drive-up service for our customers on the go, and a dining room and merchandise shop for our guests who want to mingle with the employees, have lunch with a friend, work on homework, or enjoy some healthier options with your young children.

Because we will be employing people with disabilities, it is most important to have a building that is completely handicap accessible. Unfortunately, those buildings don't exist in this area. This is where all of you come into the story. Brittany and I are working hard to make this happen as soon as possible, but we need help from people like you who want to be a part of this joyous opportunity. We are going to make a difference with each coffee we pour, and every scone we serve. We purchased a fully automatic coffee machine so that every single employee can be a barista! At this time, we bake at a local church (thank you Coal City United Methodist Church!), but we are ready to move forward, and get all of us under one roof, and out of the element of weather.

Will you join us in making this dream come to fruition? The funds we are asking for are EVERYTHING we need to go from Phase I to Phase III, building and all supplies inside. Pass this message along to everyone you know who is as passionate about serving this community and helping them enjoy the same lifestyle we all get to enjoy. If you are interested in setting up an appointment to discuss donations that require sharing business information, I would be happy to entertain that meeting! We would love to see Phase III in 2024 so help spread the word!