Grounds for Health and Peet’s Coffee join forces for #wheresheis campaign

Campaign combats cervical cancer in East Africa

Grounds for Health, a non-profit with a mission to prevent cervical cancer in coffee communities, today launched a summer-long campaign to bring healthcare #wheresheis, with a sponsorship from Peet’s Coffee kicking off the effort.

During each month of the campaign, GfH will announce a new location to bring self-sampling test kits to women in Ethiopia and Kenya. Peet’s Coffee will partner with Grounds for Health to raise awareness for the first location highlighted: the coffee farms, processing facilities, and cooperatives where women work.
Over the summer, GfH will distribute 1,500 test kits to women in the heart of East Africa’s coffee growing regions. In just minutes, women can collect their own samples to learn if they have HPV and whether they will need treatment.

“Cervical cancer is an entirely preventable disease, yet in the places we work, women are dying because they do not have access to basic screening and treatment,” says Kyle Engelman, Director of Philanthropy at GfH. “Fewer than 15% of women in Ethiopia and Kenya have ever been screened. The availability of new self-sampling tests, and Grounds for Health’s commitment to reaching rural women who do not have access to preventive healthcare, will change that.”
“The women we will be serving are working women with families; they are tied to schedules,” added Evah Muendo, Kenya Program Coordinator. “They don’t have time to go to the clinic to get tests. Now, we can go to them.”

Peet’s has partnered with Grounds for Health since 2005, donating more than $125,000 to the organization as part of the coffee company’s core mission to positively impact the lives of the people and the communities where it sources coffee. Peet’s calls this approach Sourcing with Impact.
“Sourcing with Impact at Peet’s is our commitment to the farmers and farming communities behind the coffee we purchase and roast,” said Matt Broscio, Peet’s senior manager for sustainability. “We can make no better investment than in the health and well-being of women coffee producers and other women who work in the coffee sector.”
In addition to their support, from June 5-12, Peet’s will donate a one-pound bag of its Baridi Blend coffee to any individual who donates more than $27 to GfH, the cost to screen and treat one woman. The coffee is a blend of East African coffees and brews beautifully cold, honoring Grounds for Health’s Ethiopia and Kenya locations and celebrating summer with all who donate.

Grounds for Health’s goal is to raise $100,000 for #wheresheis.. In July, #wheresheis will focus on where she shops, bringing test kits to open air markets for shoppers and vendors alike, and in August the emphasis will be on where she lives, getting test kits to rural health posts and villages.
For more information, follow along via e-news (https://groundsforhealth.org//e-news-signup/) or social media (@groundsforhealth). If your company is interested in sponsoring a location and exploring ways to promote your involvement or engage customers around this cause, please contact Kyle Engelman, Director of Philanthropy, kyle@groundsforhealth.org

About GfH: Grounds for Health (GfH) is an international non-profit based in Williston, VT with the mission to prevent cervical cancer in coffee communities. They have over 25 years’ experience partnering with the coffee industry and global and local health partners to implement high quality, locally-based screen and treat programs for women. To date, over 185,000 women have been screened and 15,000 treated to prevent cervical cancer. In 2022, they introduced the innovative screening technique of HPV self-sampling, allowing women from remote settings to experience high quality healthcare without requiring a clinic visit. Their vision is to build a bridge to globally inclusive care.

About Peet’s Coffee:
Peet’s Coffee®, part of JDE Peet’s (JDEP.AS) the world’s largest pure play coffee and tea company by revenue, is a U.S. specialty coffee company founded in 1966 in Berkeley, California, by Alfred Peet. Peet pioneered the craft coffee movement in the U.S and his legacy lives on today in every cup whether ordered online, selected at a grocery store, or served in any one of more than 370 Peet’s Coffee locations in the U.S. and China. Peet’s Coffee is verified as 100 percent responsibly sourced, per Enveritas standards.

For further information email kyle@groundsforhealth.org