Fredericton coffee festival raises $1,200 to assist homeless shelters

People got a sip of Fredericton's first coffee festival on Saturday morning.

Coffee connoisseurs gathered at the Picaroons Roundhouse to enjoy a cup of joe and raise money for Fredericton's homeless shelters. 

"It exceeded expectations," said Scott Smith, who organized the Freddy Beach Coffee Fest.

He said about 150 people showed up for the event on Saturday.

Smith said the idea had been brewing for about a year after some local vendors told him there had never been such an event in Fredericton. So Smith took it upon himself to make it happen.

"I secured a venue, had half a dozen vendors interested, then went public and then got a lot of interest in the public domain," said Smith. 

Something new

The festival gave people the opportunity to try some new coffee, including authentic Turkish coffee from Roti Canai and a whisky-infused coffee from Freddy Bean. 

Along with the local brews, vendors were on site to explain what's involved in creating coffee.

Smith started taking an interest in coffee while attending Fredericton High School, when he needed help getting through his math class. 

"Over the years it's helped me through a military career, and get through life," said Smith. "Now I find myself getting up earlier just so I can have that time to have a cup of coffee in the morning."

Proceeds to assist homeless shelters

Smith decided to donate the proceeds from the festival to the Fredericton Homeless Shelters Inc.

"It's nice to have people come in from the community and want to support the shelter and want to do an event that engages the community and not only something that's really fun, but also to inform people what the shelter really does and how important we are to this community," said Warren Maddox, executive director of the shelters.

The festival raised over $1,200.

"It has a big impact," said Maddox. "When we're trying to raise the money that we do every year, every cent counts, so to have someone that comes in from the community with a $1,200 donation is absolutely amazing."

Smith hopes this is just the first of many. He's seen other events and festivals grow and he thinks his festival can do the same. 

"I have seen the seeds here in Fredericton grow into mighty oaks, so the sky is the limit as far as the Fredericton Coffee Fest is concerned," said Smith.