Saturday Adventure Sips

About This Idea

In a world of internet connection, we see community disconnection. The increasingly polarized environment proves the need for local organizing. Kalamazoo is a nonprofit hub with over 100 organizations supporting residents from all walks of life: many hosting community events, offering vital services, and always needing more hands. Kalamazoo is rich in diversity, art, small businesses, and cafes around every corner. From Caffè Casa and Shibam to Walnut & Park and Fiddle Leaf, businesses from all cultures are already here. With loneliness and division sweeping generations, we want to shift from the “For You” page to “For Us” purpose and participation.

Saturday Adventure Sips is the bridge. We partner with local artists to design custom mugs; each one tied to a nonprofit whose mission and story comes packaged right with it. Every mug gives the buyer exclusive discounts to partner cafes and businesses; one purchase ripples across the community. 4 collections drop per year, each supporting different art, missions, and people. As we grow, coffee and tea subscriptions will keep supporting grassroots businesses and new experiences.

Our mission is to help people explore more and battle the loneliness epidemic. 100% of profits go directly back into the community. Beyond the mugs, this investment will build a free interactive app featuring an open-world map of Michigan. Every area starts greyed out. Visit a new place, snap a photo, pin it and that part of the map unlocks. It’s yours whether you buy a mug or not. As more cafés, nonprofits, and businesses join, the map grows with them expanding from Kalamazoo to greater Michigan and eventually across the Midwest. It’s a living map that grows as the community grows, connecting people to places and each other.

Saturday Adventure Sips connects communities, from siloed pursuits to a strong ecosystem. So, try a new coffee, cocoa, or whatever your cup of tea is to bring back community and connection one Saturday Sip at a time.

Where Did This Idea Spark at WMU?

A few years ago, my friends and I saw all these videos on social media of influencers traveling around the world. We wanted to explore and go on adventures, but we didn’t have the resources or time. So we had an idea: every Saturday, go to a town or place we haven’t been to before. What we realized is that each new nearby place is full of different people, things, experiences, and adventure. While not costing a $1,000 plane ticket and a week of PTO.

We had to share this with more than our friends, so we started posting Saturday Adventures to inspire others to explore places close to them. As I studied nonprofit & public administration with a youth & community development lens, all research points to collaboration for stronger communities. Now we want to make an even bigger impact, supporting nonprofits, cafes, local businesses in these towns we adventure in, encouraging more people to find adventures around them. Adventure doesn’t start with a boarding pass but in your own backyard.

Impact in Kalamazoo

Our community’s future wins. Nonprofits gain direct financial support and visibility through every mug collection. Local artists receive fair compensation and a platform to share their work with the broader community. Cafes and small businesses see new foot traffic from adventure-seekers using their discounts which support local culture rather than getting washed away by another chain.

The hope is to broaden resident participation, access, and resources. Kalamazoo is not only a nonprofit hub but the base for entrepreneurial pursuits guided by Can-Do Kalamazoo. Imagine Kalamazoo centering efforts of community voice and happy city models. Through our platform and map, neighborhoods can showcase what makes them unique, youth programs can reach new volunteers, and schools can connect to fundraising support. We want to start from within and bring more people to experience the amazing things we already have.

How Investment Helps

This investment makes the leap from idea to infrastructure. Without funding, we cannot compensate artists fairly, manufacture quality mugs at scale, or build the app that is the long-term engine of our impact. Right now, everything runs on spare time, volunteer energy, and passion — powerful but not sustainable. Funding means bringing on part-time support, establishing our legal and nonprofit donation structure, and onboarding cafe partners across Southwest Michigan.

The first local milestone is completing our pilot — 1,000 mugs with Kalamazoo cafes — and donating to our first partner nonprofit. But it’s bigger than the mugs. It’s seeing what rallied money and community support can actually do when directed locally. This investment allows Saturday Adventure Sips to prove that people are ready for connection, that communities can support themselves, and that collective action can start with a Saturday cup of coffee.

What I'll Do With the Money

Full App Development Adventure Map & Social Platform — $40K
Design polished app featuring an interactive Michigan map, profiles, unlocking places, rewards & discount redemption and community engagement features. The app is the long-term engine driving impact, retention, & growth.

Inventory & Artist Program — $23K
Fund artist collab with upfront compensation, manufacture scaled mug production. Set logistics infrastructure to move past pilot phase into sustainable product operations.

Partnerships, Expansion & Operations — $23K
Hire part-time support to onboard coffee shops & businesses, building the discount and reward network driving mug value & impact. This covers legal formation, accounting, nonprofit donation infrastructure, insurance, payment systems and operating runway.

Marketing and Launch Events — $14K
Execute pop-up events, campus outreach, & content partnerships. Target campaigns centering exploration & local organizing to build brand awareness & early adoption.

About the Founder

I love seeing what this world has to offer and I see potential in everyone, big and small. I studied nonprofit and public administration at WMU with a community development lens, and all my research points the same direction: we are stronger when we collaborate. People are burned out and disconnected. I see a world where we support one another — making life more fun, connected, and supportive. This venture doesn’t start or end with itself but as a means of building that world together.

Links

• LinkedIn Profile
• Our Instagram