ORANGE — With people hunkered down in their homes practicing social distancing as a way to curb the spread of COVID-19, online sales have soared at Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee Co. — as much as 300 percent on any given day.
And owner Dean Cycon wanted to use this onslaught of business to give back, so he decided to donate $10,000 to school food programs that are feeding children while their educational institutions are closed. The company has donated $5,000 to Springfield Public Schools, $3,000 to the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District in Orange and $2,000 to Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools.
“So many schools are giving out food because low-income kids really don’t have any other option. And I consider that to be a deep shame on our society,” Cycon said. “We’re in a better place financially than we were before the pandemic, and I don’t want to make money off people’s misery.”
Cycon explained contributions were based on the number of students the district feeds each day. He said Springfield serves 17,000 meals per day, Orange provides 3,000 and Amherst supplies 1,200. Cycon said he has reached out to the school districts of Greenfield, Holyoke and other communities to determine if they are interested in receiving aid as well.
“We’ll just keep handing out money as long as sales are up and the schools are closed,” he said.
Cycon said the schools and parents have been grateful.
“We truly appreciate Dean’s Beans’ financial support, as we are currently operating at a deficit serving meals,” Patrick Roach, chief financial and operations officer for Springfield Public Schools, said in a statement. “There is a lot of food insecurity in our city, and often school programs are a child’s only source for meals. Contributions from our community are incredibly helpful as we continue to deliver this important service to students.”
Dean’s Beans has also launched a “Thousand Pounds of Light” campaign to donate 1,000 pounds of coffee to people combating COVID-19 on the frontlines, and those whose jobs and livelihoods have been negatively affected by the pandemic. It also continues to supply food banks, survival centers and other organizations with free coffee.
Additionally, the company has donated more than 13,000 coffee tin ties to people hand-making medical masks to protect COVID-19 frontline workers and first responders.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.