Entry: Tracey Duffey, World Cocoa Foundation
As people around the world celebrate Valentine's Day this week on February 14 - with some attending parties and fundraisers or buying gifts for loved ones, there are many of us interested in finding our own small way to give back to communities. Specifically for this holiday, we can focus on cocoa farming communities around the world in West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.
Carla Durham, owner of The Cake Bar in Washington, DC is one such person. A dynamic entrepreneur and pastry chef extraordinaire, Carla contacted me last year to introduce her virtual dessert bar and lounge. She explained how throughout the year she holds a variety of holiday-themed parties and donates a portion of the ticket sales to a good cause. And for this year's 2nd Annual Valentine's Party she wanted to donate a portion of the ticket sales and silent auction to a World Cocoa Foundation supported project.
I spent last Friday night attending The Cake Bar's 2nd Annual Valentine's Party and showed a cocoa farming training video developed by local Ghanaian farmers who had graduated from Farmer Field Schools. Through the support of WCF, the graduates developed a series of training videos for women cocoa farmers. The party attendees enjoyed the chocolate cake desserts created by Carla while learning how cocoa is farmed. The cocoa ingredients were donated by WCF member, Dagoba Organic Chocolate.
I was joined by the President of the World Cocoa Foundation, Bill Guyton and two of our colleagues from The African World, Kwame Clement and Welma Redd who recently produced a video of Ghana cocoa sustainability and education programs supported by WCF entitled "Teaching Skills: Improving Lives".
Aside from enjoying the tastes of all of the scrumptious cake pastries, a highlight of the evening was the results of the silent auction and knowing that the auction donations were going to buy training books for women cocoa farmers of video viewing clubs in Ghana. We thank Carla and all of her guests for supporting the women cocoa farmers education program. Please check back for an update on the final total of the fundraiser donation and the number of training books that will be distributed to the women cocoa farmers - thanks to Carla and The Cake Bar's Valentine's Fundraiser. We look forward to making this an annual contribution and sharing stories of the women farmer beneficiaries.
For any readers who would like to make a donation to print additional training book copies, you are welcome to send your contribution to the World Cocoa Foundation. The cost of each book is USD 30 - which is a direct contribution.
Photo: Carla Durham of The Cake Bar