Today marks the opening of Bloomington’s newest addition to Kirkwood, the Pourhouse Café, a coffee shop dedicated to giving donations to charities in the African coffee belt by sending profits to them. The cafe is owned by Sherwood Oaks Christian Church.\nBy drinking the fair trade Ronnoco coffee and eating baked goods, customers will be helping in a global way, store manager Jennifer Holinka said.\n“People always want to give but are leery, so we are making the giving process more personal,” Holinka said.\nThe Nyaka AIDS Orphan School of Nyakagyezi, Uganda, will be the first to receive the funding from Bloomington’s local coffee shop.\nSince the profits are sent every four months to the African charities, teams will be sent to experience what impact the finances are making, Holinka said.\nAdding to the artistic feel of the cafe, returning teams will place their photos around the coffee shop for customers to see the need for a coffee shop with this goal, she said.\n“I think we are different enough from the other coffee shops on Kirkwood to be successful; we all have different atmospheres,” Holinka said. “We’ll just have to see how it goes, but we all three have our own identity, so we aren’t taking anyone else’s place.”\nMembers of Sherwood Oaks Christian Church wanted a way to embrace the community and make a global impact.\n“We want the community to know that this is not a Christian coffee house, but a service for the community,” said John Robertson, college minister at Sherwood Oaks. “But on the other hand, this is a mission work; the church definitely gave us the opportunity.”
Over the span of three years, members of the church made pledges to help start the coffee house, he said. \n“I wanted to be near campus, and when a ‘for lease’ sign went up on the location,” Robertson said, “I knew this was where we wanted to be,”\nThe store will not have its grand opening, however, until April 11. But starting today the doors will be open and the employees will be serving lattes, Holinka said.\nChurch members Tim Thompson, Risha Mitchell and Pam Voorhies designed the store. \n“We wanted something warm and soothing, with the limitations of the space,” Voorhies said.\nIn an effort to help local musicians and artists in Bloomington, there is a music team that will research bands to play and local artists to display their work in the coffee shop, Robinson said.\nThe Pourhouse Café is located on 314 E. Kirkwood Ave., across the street from Monroe County Public Library. For more information about the café, visit www.socc.org/outreach/pourhouse.html.
