PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – A Southeast Portland coffee shop has pulled out of a campaign to build a cafe in Gaza following community pushback.
Heretic Coffee had announced plans in mid-September to partner with HUMANITE Peace Collective, a global humanitarian organization, aiming to raise $100,000 for a community gathering space in Gaza called the Dept. of Peace. The planned cafe was intended to serve free coffee and hot meals, mirroring programs Heretic offers locally.
In a statement posted Thursday, owner Josh White announced the business is stepping away from the project and ending its partnership with HUMANITE.
“We have been working behind the scenes to sort through the responses, concerns, and frustrations that have arisen following the announcement of our collaboration with Humanite Peace Collective,” White wrote. “To get to the point, we’ve decided to move away from this project and collaboration with Humanite.”
White took responsibility for how the initiative was rolled out online, stating that he failed to communicate the project’s details clearly on social media platforms and did not gather feedback from local patrons beforehand.
“I should have brought this to our community first and gotten feedback on this before we went forward,” White said. “I fully own that I dropped the ball in that, and there is repair work here for us to do.”
According to White, the decision to part ways was reached mutually with HUMANITE earlier in the week. HUMANITE will continue the initiative independently using the money collected so far and any additional funds it secures. Before exiting, White noted that a portion of the raised donations funded an event providing food and activities for children at an orphanage in Gaza.
Heretic previously reported raising more than $24,000 toward the initial goal. Moving forward, White stated the shop is refocusing its efforts closer to home.
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