Launch Pad Teen Center seeks donors for its new Prescott coffee shop apprenticeship program

The Launch Pad Teen Center is seeking to raise a final $20,000 of a $50,000 goal to provide apprenticeships to area teens who might want to become a barista at the center’s new coffee shop space in its soon-to-open Prescott home at 424 6th St.

“Our hope is that every teen who comes through our apprenticeship program learns to pour espresso on a high quality machine so they can take their skills to college town coffee shops and be able to pay their way through school,” said a center news release. “It is one thing to know how to pour a cup of coffee and an entirely different thing to know how to make a good espresso.”

The center is seeking gifts from $50 to $5,000 to help purchase everything from the coffee, tea, smoothie and sandwich products up to a high-caliber espresso machine for teens to use to learn the craft. Donors at each level will be honored with gifts that will begin with a free cup of coffee sticker, engraved name bricks for the front courtyard, mugs with art designed by the center’s teen artists, and go up to VIP tickets to an opening party with the donor name inscribed onto the espresso machine. Certain level donors can even name one of the coffee shop’s featured beverages or sandwiches.

The center, too, encourages monthly $30 sustainable gifts with those donors to receive quarterly gifts of unique teen art, coffee to make at home, gift card sets and more, the news release said.

The intention of this new eight-month apprenticeship program – each one costs $5,000 – is to equip teens with the employment skills so they are able to operate any aspect of the coffee business from barista to manager.

At this time, there are 14 donors to this project.

The center’s coffee shop donation campaign is slated to continue into the coming month.

To donate, visit https://give.thelaunchpadteencenter.org/campaign/coffee-shop/c352286 or call the center at 928-227-0758.