[HAS HEART] was excited to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the first Armistice Day (Veterans Day) with a long weekend’s worth of events and partnerships.
We opened a pop-up shop in the Veterans Memorial Park building we’ve hosted numerous ArtPrize exhibits in years past at 22 Sheldon Ave NE.
The weekend was full of events and partnerships, but the main feature was sharing The Coffee Shop concept for the first time with the public…
Why a coffee shop?
In 2010, a Veteran (Michael) and a designer (Tyler) met over coffee for the first time. Realizing the disconnect between their two worlds, [HAS HEART] was born.
Since then, each Veteran + Designer collaborative project has begun with a cup of coffee.
In Fall 2020, [HAS HEART] will be opening “The Coffee Shop” (in partnership with the City of Grand Rapids Parks Department and Madcap Coffee) where veterans and civilians can connect over coffee.
Over the past nine years, we’ve witnessed first-hand how coffee can be a catalyst for conversation. When two or more people take the time to talk over coffee, relationships are created and greater understanding and empathy is built.
On Monday, we hosted a free “taste testing” of three Madcap Coffee varieties so the community could help us decide which brew to serve.
We also enabled visitors to provide feedback on different coffee mugs we’re sampling along with other key features of The Coffee Shop that will make it a community hub for years to come.
