The Story Behind Our Partnership with ThriveWorx

Thrive Farmers

Thrive Farmers is interested in a whole lot more than just making a good cup of coffee. For this farmer-direct specialty coffee company, it’s about being an agent of change.

Unlike many coffee suppliers, Thrive Farmers uses a farmer-direct profit sharing model designed to eliminate unnecessary costs to help farmers earn a more sustainable income from their harvest. By creating direct market access and reducing unnecessary middlemen, the organization seeks to ensure that more of the value created by coffee returns to the people who grow it.

Now that’s something to raise your cup to!

Learn more about Thrive Famers →

The Role of ThriveWorx Foundation

While Thrive Farmers focuses on creating sustainable opportunities for farmers through its farmer-direct business model, the ThriveWorx Foundation extends that mission into the communities where those farmers live and work.

Through the efforts of the ThriveWorx Foundation, Thrive Farmers’ non-profit counterpart, real transformation happens in the communities of these coffee farmers. The ThriveWorx Foundation model seeks to elicit economic and social transformation in the communities of farmers across the globe.

Through local partnerships and community-focused initiatives, ThriveWorx seeks to support long-term transformation by investing in children, families, leaders, and community development. By connecting organizations with opportunities to serve strategically and sustainably, ThriveWorx helps turn economic impact into community impact.

Why Bring Camp to Costa Rica?

At WinShape Camps, we believe camp is more than a week of activities. Camp creates opportunities for children to experience the love of Jesus, for leaders to grow in confidence and faith, and for communities to come together around a shared purpose.

Bringing Camp to Costa Rica

In the Spring of 2018, WinShape Camps partnered with ThriveWorx Foundation to pilot two weeks of camp in Costa Rica. While the goal was to provide children with a memorable camp experience, the impact reached far beyond games and activities.

Believe us when we say that the two weeks in Costa Rica exceeded our expectations tenfold. Beyond just bringing the experience of WinShape Camps to the communities of our Thrive Farmers partners in Costa Rica, we were able to witness a shift in the dynamic of these entire communities.

What We Saw

Unity

Camp created a space where every child belonged. For many families, it was one of the first opportunities for children from different backgrounds to come together as equals, learn side by side, and be invested in by both local leaders and visiting staff.

“For the first time every kid was an equal,” explains Mannina. “Every kid got to come and be part of a camp and be treated as an equal, be invested in, be poured into by WinShape Camps and by their own local leaders alike.”

Hope

Parents shared how meaningful it was to see their children celebrated, encouraged, and cared for. Many expressed gratitude that someone would intentionally invest in the next generation of their community.

“I saw kids who had never had an experience like this before,” says Mannina. “Parents came up to us after and said, ‘We could only dream of something like this for our kids. We never imagined that someone would invest in our kids like this.'”

Inspiration

The experience didn’t just impact Campers. Volunteers and community leaders discovered new ways they could serve, lead, and continue investing in children long after camp ended.

“We saw communities getting inspired to do more. We saw talents unleashed in some of the volunteers.”

Where We Are Today

What began as a partnership to bring camp to coffee-growing communities in Costa Rica has grown into something much deeper. Through our partnership with ThriveWorx Foundation, camp serves as a catalyst for Gospel-centered leadership development, community connection, and discipleship. Children experience the love of Jesus in tangible ways, while local Volunteers and leaders are encouraged and equipped to invest in the next generation.

At the heart of this partnership is a commitment to community empowerment. WinShape Camps International operates on a three-year model, working alongside local leaders to establish and strengthen camp within their communities. Each year, local Volunteers are empowered to take on greater ownership and responsibility.

By the fourth year, community leaders are fully equipped with the training, tools, and camp content needed to lead camp themselves. Our goal is to help build sustainable ministry that belongs to the community long after our team has stepped away.

None of this would be possible if it were not for the original vision of Kenneth Lander and Michael Jones, founders of Thrive Farmers International. This mission for change paired with tools for actionable empowerment, brought to life by ThriveWorx, is what allows coffee communities across the world to truly thrive.

The intersection of this movement with the mission of WinShape Camps is a partnership that only providence can orchestrate.

The partnership between Thrive Farmers, ThriveWorx Foundation, and WinShape Camps is rooted in a shared belief: when people are empowered and communities are equipped, transformation can continue for generations. We’re grateful to play a small part in that story and excited to see how God continues to work through these communities in Costa Rica and beyond.