Over + Above: 2021 Run for Water Updates

Thanks to your contributions, last year in 2021 Run for Water helped to provide clean water to 5,700+ residents in Hawo, Ethiopia. Our Over & Above program aims to give back to the people and communities that provide us with the coffee that we love so much. That’s why JJ Bean partnered with Run for Water in 2018, to help bring clean water to the coffee growing regions of Ethiopia. $1 from each bottle of still water sold in our stores is donated and matched by Run for Water. With our latest donation at the end of 2021 we have raised close to $50,000 and every cent has been put to good use. Last year four clean water sources were built in Hawo, giving some residents access to clean water for the first time in their lives. 

Pictured here are Hajara and Ashu, they both live in Hawo, Ethiopia. To them clean water means access to education. Rather than missing school to walk together to fetch water in the nearby river, a clean water source was constructed in 2021 right outside their classroom.

This is Foziya Kedir who no longer has to walk for 2 hours to collect river water every day. Foziya is working towards being an engineer so that she could build water systems and schools for rural communities like hers. 

JJ Bean’s Over + Above program exists because the farmers who produce the coffee we enjoy so much also happen to live in some of the poorest areas of the world. While we are committed to always paying excellent prices for excellent coffee, we feel we can do more to make a positive difference in coffee growing countries over and above our basic responsibility as coffee roasters.

You can learn more about our our Over + Above program on our About page.