02/04/2016
You all have one week left to change your life! heheh
Imagine you and your entrepreneurial spirit gifted everything you need to start a café in a picturesque community...
Small Ritual Coffee Society is a registered not-for-profit that runs most of its community programming through a coffee shop. The idea is community-centred and out-of-the-box, so the idea of giving it to the best person/group via an essay contest is fitting.
The winner will be gifted over $100,000 in equipment, furnishings and leasehold improvements; essentially every physical thing present at 1237 Johnston Road in White Rock, BC. Before taking over the café, the Small Ritual crew will train the winner for free how to run the café as a small independent business (as well as his or her family members and/or anyone they intend to hire). It is expected that the winner volunteer full time for one month while learning as much as possible on-site. (Extra training time can be given if needed. Our crew is very patient, and wants to set you up with confidence and every possible experience to help you thrive.) This will also give the winner an opportunity to work with the trained café staff and determine if they would like to take any on as employees.
Why~ The Society will be more effective at helping individuals and other not-for-profits with their program planning, training, efficiency systems implementation, leadership and community building if the team comes to the client’s location. It has been challenging to require the people who need our help the most to commute and or uproot themselves from Central Surrey and the D.T.E.S. The Society will still operate out of greater Vancouver, so we will always be within reach should the contest winner have questions or need some help. It is important to the Society that the café live on. The current café is beautiful and has established a reputation for providing premium, responsible products. Someone with an eye for quality will make their dream a reality, and the warmth of their smile will be felt through the White Rock community.
How~ Participants can choose to write a 200 word essay on any of the following topics:
1) What qualifies you, in spirit or experience or both, to run your own coffeeshop?
2) Define some of your values and explain how they will be both helpful and challenging to project through your café.
3) Give strategies for building constructive relationships with your customers, neighbours and staff.
4) How do you see the role of art (visual, performance, music, film, literature, fashion, etc.) as important to society?
Contestants can enter up to 4 times, provided each essay is on a different topic. Submissions will be reviewed by the Society’s Board of Directors and our Community Connections and Reciprocity Committee. It is advised that contestants submit their application packages as soon as possible in case the Committee has any clarifying questions about it. As time moves on and more applications come in, the committee will not have time to ask any questions of contestants, and will have to take the applications (and any typos/unclear sentences) at face value.
Timeline~ The contest will run from August 11th to February 10th. Ten finalists will be announced on Saint Valentine’s Day and asked to write another essay under 1000 words on how they plan to keep the community spirit alive at the café and how they plan to breathe even more life into it. Finalists will be given 14 days to submit their final essay.
The winner will be announced Saint Patrick’s day. Their training can begin March 31st. The winner can take over as early as May 1st! NB The building the café is housed in is independently owned. The contest winner may choose to relocate or may choose to lease the current location (month-month) at the negotiated not-for-profit rate we currently enjoy. Obviously the latter is recommended because the location comes with loyal customers.
How to enter~ Submit a 200 word essay on one of the contest topics. Indicate the topic in the title at the top of the page. Do not put your name anywhere on the essay; essays will be assigned a number upon receipt. With your essay, also include one stamped, self-addressed envelope that also details your email address. Your $100 money-order or cheque should be made out to ‘Small Ritual Coffee Society,’ and must be mailed in or dropped off with your essay.
Rules and Notes~ The contest is open to all regardless of association or citizenship, except the current Board of Directors. You must be the author of your essay. If you are applying as a group, one or more of the names in the group must be the author. Questions about the contest details may not be discussed independently with any of the board or committee members. Doing so will lead to disqualification. Questions must be submitted to the emailsmallritualgatekeeper@gmail.com and a group-approved response will be emailed back to you. The winner must agree to call and register their café something entirely different from Small Ritual Coffee Society. If we receive less than 500 submissions, all entry fees will be returned, and the contest will be held at a later date. If we receive over 1000 entries, we will be gifting the winners with a nest-egg of credits to pay business expenses in their first few months.
People who do not want to enter, but want to support the society or its community can contribute financially by donating $100 to sponsor the entry of an underprivileged youth, or a refugee, or a member of their church or whatever group they want to boost. Persons whom are sponsored will agree to have a copy of their essay given to their sponsor.
