Elpis Enterprises has had great success building our reusable coffee tote bag program in coffee shops throughout the state of Minnesota. This year, we’ve been fortunate to gain partnerships in many more states beyond Minnesota and get our reusable tote bags into new communities.
One of our newest out-of-state partners is Atomic Coffee in Fargo, North Dakota. Atomic has been in the Fargo community for over 20 years and came under new ownership in April. Erin Reiner has worked with Atomic on and off for many years, and when she took up ownership in the spring, she decided it was a good time to follow up on a sample Elpis had sent to Atomic over a year ago.
“I took over Atomic, and I had kept that card because I thought it was so neat what you guys were doing,” said Reiner. “I’m all about repurposing things, keeping stuff out of waste, and then the fact you’re also helping homeless youth is just amazing. So I was really moved by your guys’ mission, and so as soon as I was able, business-wise, I decided to reach out and order some bags.”
Atomic Coffee has had very few retail items in its downtown Fargo location over the years. Elpis’s reusable bags are some of the first items Reiner is trying out in the retail space, and so far, they’ve been very popular with regular customers at Atomic.
“They’ve really enjoyed them so far. They’re also something I’ve been giving out when we do donations to other non-profits and things. I’ve been throwing in a bag too to kind of help spread that word, as well as they’re a cute little thing for a silent auction with some coffee and a gift card.”
The bags being made by Elpis interns who come from homeless or difficult housing situations also hit home for Reiner. The homeless situation in downtown Fargo has been impacting many businesses, including Atomic, heavily over the last few years. And even though Elpis is located 240 miles away, partnering with an organization working to end homelessness has helped spark conversations on what Atomic and community members can do to address homelessness issues in their own community.
“In the last few years, it’s been a big topic that we’ve dealt with as downtown businesses and people who care about our downtown because there’s a lot of backlash on what homelessness is, and you know, people, and all of this stuff. Everyone has their own opinions, but to me, we’re all human and we all deserve dignity and respect. So the fact you’re helping with youth homelessness, trying to teach them skills, I think, is just amazing.”
The ripple effect can be felt both at Atomic and Elpis by selling one bag at a time, and because of that, Reiner hopes Atomic will continue being a staple of Elpis’ out-of-state coffeeshop partners, helping to end youth homelessness in their community and the Twin Cities.
“It’s amazing. I feel the ripple effect, right? I know that it’s not here, so I told people too, ‘It’s such a cool program, but we don’t have one here. Then I also see people’s wheels start turning, wondering what we can do here in Fargo to have a program kind of like this. But I think if you’re making a difference in one person’s life, that ripples throughout communities and from one state to another.”z
