Eleven years ago, before we became the backyard farming manufacturers known as Roost & Root, we had an interest in helping those around the world whose needs were greater than ours. Particularly the needs of those in Haiti through a number of projects aimed to leave a better and brighter future. Through the generous help of people like you who stepped in, a lot of our projects became a reality and continue to grow into larger impacts. In the past several years, for a variety of reasons, we’ve settled on helping schools and K12 Haiti is the evolution of our efforts to do more of that.
When we’re not building the backyard farming products you love, we dedicate our time to build a greater foundation to help to fund 3 key areas for schools in Haiti, Teachers, Textbooks, and Technology through our nonprofit K12 Haiti. We’re even close to launching an exciting cause product we know you’ll love known as Haiti Joe Coffee™, more on that below!
To learn more about our relief efforts in Haiti that span back to the very first 7.0 magnitude earthquake of 2010, refer to our timeline below!
Angels & Cowboy Boots
2010 – 2015
What started out as Angels in Cowboy Boots (AICB) back in 2010. K12 Haiti is the same 501 C3, same EIN, same nonprofit company charter that Roost & Root founders Montie & Dyan Twining started out with. AICB was a food relief effort that put food into buckets for victims of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. Around 300,000 meals got served worldwide out of these 5-gallon buckets.
Native Egg Project
2016 – 2018
Founders Montie & Dyan Twining, as well as their kids and a few Roost & Root employees, continued their work in Haiti with the one item they knew best, chicken coops. The Native Egg Project gave chicken coops, hens, and a specially manufactured feed system (aka the Grubcone™) that would deliver a 100 egg per day system to a school in Haiti. Additionally given were proceeds from the company and gifts from others.
K12 Haiti, Formerly Ekolaj/K12 Canaan
2019 – Present
K12 Canaan served as a parent non-profit organization for individual like-minded projects that wished to provide for the schooling and provision of students all over Haiti. Ekolaj served as a partnership with private schools in these under-served areas with a goal to fund every student who wants to be in school to enroll and have access to books. The combined efforts of these causes have evolved into what is now K12 Haiti.
It’s our goal to leave a greater impact beyond our own backyard for years to come. To impact a generation in Haiti who will, in turn, make up the future of its progress. We hope that by enabling students with the resources needed to succeed, we can not only provide an avenue for opportunities but also a safe haven of support. Whether your interest in helping us help Haiti is new or if you’ve shared this similar passion for years, we encourage you to reach out to us. For when we all come together, we can make a greater impact. If you have any questions about K12 Haiti or want to learn more about how you can help Beyond Your Own Backyard™, we encourage you to send us a message at montie@k12haiti.org
Donations can also be made on our website K12Canaan (soon becoming K12 Haiti) via the link here.
Haiti Joe Coffee™
Did you know that Haiti used to be the third biggest coffee producer in the world? Although the country has become less known for producing beans now, its farmers are still active in bringing back this loved bean once again. Through the combined assistance of Rebo, a Haiti-based food manufacturer, we’ve chosen to bring back awareness of Haiti’s loved beans to help create a non-profit coffee known as Haiti Joe Coffee™. Each purchase of Haiti Joe Coffee™ will support…Haiti. Beans are sourced from a network of thousands of smallholder farms whose heritage coffee plants have been harvested for generations. Harvested beans are lovingly sun-dried, sorted, blended, roasted, tested then packaged for freshness right there in Haiti.
It’s the everyday coffee that directly gives back to the future of Haiti by donating a portion of sales to fund K12 Haiti’s educational improvement efforts. As we await our first coffee shipment, complete our facility (tour to be given soon), and finalize our soon-to-be-released website, we can’t wait to keep you updated on how to receive your future feel-good cup of joe!
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about our nonprofit efforts in Haiti. Have questions or comments regarding anything mentioned in this blog post? Please feel free to email us or give us a call! We look forward to sharing our progress in Haiti with you over time as we aim to make a difference together.