Nelson BC – On Tuesday May 18th, Sasha Kitch of Grounded Organic Coffee House is once again hosting the hugely successful Grounded Gives to the Kids.  Last year Grounded gave all their daily proceeds to the Kootenay Kids Society and raised over $2,000 for the Life After Birth program, this year the team have a bigger goal, to help bring nutrition to children of unfortunate circumstances, the catch is, we have this need right here in Nelson.

The Kootenay Kids Society helps families, especially the young, get the proper nutrition and guidance when it is needed most, at the beginning of life.  Kootenay Kids Society’s mission is to help individuals, families and child care providers achieve their full potential through the provision of support, education and childcare programs.

The Kootenay Kids Society provides services and workshops about nutrition, cooking and food preservation which helps families and children get the food they need in the short term and teach them skills to provide for a healthy future.  These programs work closely with local resources and businesses making it truly a community effort.

When Grounded was deciding on what they could do this year a big idea and a major project started to form.  Sasha discovered that $20 will, not only help a family eat a nutritious meal, but they will also gain knowledge about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  In short nutritious food and education inspire families to be healthier which directly benefits the community it also reduces savings to healthcare and social services which are major benefits to society.

This is an important issue as the challenges in life don’t exist in isolation, what happens to kids and families is absolutely critical for the well being of a sustainable community.

To help raise awareness and funds for this program Grounded Organic Coffee House and a dozen other businesses have got together to help create a win-win fundraising event.  Along with donating her entire day’s proceeds away, Sasha at Grounded and other local businesses have created the $20 Cup of Coffee.  Along with your delicious cup of Kootenay Coffee you will get a bundle of gifts generously donated by local businesses.  When the call came out to help the Kootenay Kids Society, businesses didn’t even hesitate, the gift bundle is a booklet with vouchers for Candy from Pixie, Toy from Mountain Baby, Fudge from Cottonwood Kitchens, Flower from Touch of Dutch, Emergen-C from Natures Health, Admission to Touchstones, Climb/Try with Gravity Climbing Centre, Drop in pass from Kootenay Fitness and a deal at Tribute Board Shop.

“I feel it is very important that we don’t loose focus on the needs that exist in our own community.  It is surprising to hear who in this town has fallen onto tough times and have needed help to get back on their feet.  Some of these people have gone on to create major benefits for our town.  I do this fundraising event to make sure that everyone gets a chance.” Says Sasha Kitch Owner of Grounded, “Once we decided on what we wanted to do and explained it to our business friends everyone jumped on board, we live in wonderful community.”

On Tuesday May 18th 2010 Grounded Organic Coffee House, 616 Vernon St.,  will be donating all of their proceeds for day to the Kootenay Kids Society Nutrition for Families; there will also be an opportunity for you to purchase a limited edition $20 cup of Coffee filled with gifts from local businesses.   For further information or to reserve your $20 cup of coffee, call Grounded Organic Coffee House at 250.352.1712 and learn more at www.KootenayKids.ca