Honesty, Integrity and Trust is the acronym for the HIT Living Foundation, a nonprofit dog rescue that launched its own coffee brand, Pawfee Coffee. HIT’s first pet food pantry event took place at The Highland Cafe Sept. 12.
Heather Crowe, founder of the HIT Living Foundation, said HIT is a dog rescue that primarily helps at-risk dogs from the local area and participates in community outreach to help citizens get their pets vaccinated, spayed and neutered.
“We take full responsibility, whether they need something as small as a dental cleaning or as big as a leg [amputation]. We take care of it all,” Crowe said.
According to Crowe, customers can purchase Pawfee Coffee on the Unbound Brews website. Crowe said 25 percent of every coffee sale goes directly to dog rescues, where these funds are then saved for medical cases.
Crowe said the brand Pawfee came about after she met up with Jon Muth, CEO of Unbound Brews, and casually joked about starting a coffee label that could support dog rescues. Muth said he wanted a partnership with HIT that catered to people’s love for coffee as a way to help the cause.
“We want people to understand that this is an incredible coffee that is also [making] an impact,” Muth said. “It’s a marriage of two things people love, coffee and dogs.”
According to Crowe, HIT’s primary goal is to spread awareness about Pawfee and get the brand into more brick-and-mortar locations.
“[Shops and cafes selling Pawfee] want to support rescues, they want to support a smaller roastery,” Crowe said. “They’re bringing it to their customers to spread awareness about dog rescue and what that means to them.”
Crowe said the Sept. 12 event was meant to celebrate the launch of Pawfee Coffee at The Highland Cafe, the brand’s first physical storefront. At the event, HIT sold merch while other pet organizations displayed products for sale.
“This is really our first brick-and-mortar, and there’s [going to] be a lot of learning curves and trial and error. So, this is our first test to see how this plays out,” Crowe said.
According to Crowe, The Highland Cafe became the first physical location to sell Pawfee after she cold-called the cafe and asked if they were interested in sourcing beans from Unbound Brews.
“They were very dog-friendly,” Crowe said. “They loved the idea of carrying a bean that gave back to the community.”
According to Meggan Oksness, HIT’s executive director of operations, Los Angeles is currently in an animal crisis because shelters are full. Oksness said HIT wanted to draw attention to this issue at the event, as well as to find new fosters and adopters.
“If we find more fosters, we can bring in more dogs. If we find adopters, then our fosters open up, and that also makes us able to bring on more dogs,” Oksness said.
Jaimee Kasower, coordinator of events for HIT, said HIT hopes to connect dogs and fosters at every event.
“With this event in particular, we are trying to focus a little bit more on awareness and getting our name back out there,” Kasower said.
According to Oksness, people who can’t take in dogs can still contribute by learning about Pawfee and purchasing from the brand.
Priscilla Camacho, founder of pet-safe luxury candle brand Bougie Poochie, was a special guest at the event. According to Camacho, she connected with HIT on Instagram, and this was their first event together. Camacho said her goal was to educate people about how candle scents and their components can harm dogs and other pets.
“[We] work with different foundations and other pet brands to collaborate and spread [awareness],” Camacho said.
According to Crowe, countless nights of work go into taking care of dogs. Crowe said HIT’s work includes finding transportation for dogs, networking with veterinarians and ensuring medical care cases are covered.
“It’s a beautiful synchronicity to have this partnership with Unbound Brews,” Crowe said. “So many of our team members are fueled — as many people are in general — by coffee.”
Contact Weiran Li at vli2@oxy.edu
