Woodland church opens coffee shop for college students

EAST COUNTY — As Daniel Campana sits inside the lobby of Woodland, The Community Church, he admits he’s deliriously tired.

But the hard work of the last few months has been well worth the loss of sleep and free time.

As general manager of The Coffee Loft, Campana is helping Woodland forge a new path into the lives of college students attending classes near the new coffee shop, located at 5025 N. Tamiami Trail, across from Barnacle Bill’s restaurant. The storefront officially opened last month.

“Really, we just want to serve (college students),” Campana said, adding he hopes to have community forums and other events at the shop. “It’s a great (way) for people to reflect back and shift perspectives. (Over) coffee is a great place to do that.”

The Coffee Loft, a non-profit under the umbrella of Woodland, offers a variety of fair-trade organic coffees, whole-leaf teas, locally made pastries and other snacks. By purchasing fair-trade coffee, The Coffee Loft, and patrons supporting it, can impact industry and engage in social issues in a practical way, Campana said.

“It’s ways like that we’ve decided to support local businesses,” Campana said, adding the bulk of the shop’s goods are purchased locally. “Everything is purposeful. It’s been such a source of joy and pride working (at the Loft).”

Campana said he also sees The Coffee Loft as a vehicle through which Woodland can help reinvigorate the area and help nearby businesses grow by drawing people to the area.

Organizers hope to have live music and other entertainment and events throughout the week. Campana said he also plans to organize monthly service projects in which guests of the Loft can participate.

Woodland Pastor Tim Passmore said although the Loft is a regular coffee shop location with no religious affiliation, its concept is being implemented from a Christian perspective. Woodland hopes to provide Sunday services at the shop through live video streaming, and the facility also will host a college-age Bible study once a week.

“The rest of the time, it’s like a regular location,” Passmore said. “It’s a coffee shop.”

Passmore said the idea for opening a coffee shop began about three years ago.

“We wanted to tap into the uniqueness of college students,” Passmore said. “We’re not trying to push religion on anyone. We know college students have a real sense of social concern for the community, and our church is a community church. We are constantly trying to find ways to be good citizens and have a positive cultural impact.”

All profits from the Coffee Loft will benefit local and international causes. Proceeds will be directed to Charity Water, an international non-profit that builds wells around to the world to underprivileged areas, and locally to a food bank for which Woodland is a distribution center, Passmore said.

Construction began in January, and the facility officially opened for business last month.

For more information on The Coffee Loft, visit its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/coffeeloft41.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].