Coffee cart offers perks for students, staff

Cardinal Cushing Centers students are making it easier than ever for staff to get fueled up with caffeine. Thanks to a new mobile coffee cart, vocational students are able to bring coffee, iced tea, and baked goods from the Cushing Café directly to offices.

“It’s another opportunity for employment training in a safe, controlled, on-site environment, and it’s a perk for staff,” said Eleanor Arpino, Cushing’s sustainability coordinator.

A pilot program started in October, before the cart was purchased. Vocational students would head to the finance department once a week, deliver menus, take orders, prepare the orders at the café, and deliver them.

“I believe the coffee cart pilot program has been a wonderful learning experience for all those involved,” said Marian Macuch, Cushing’s accounts payable coordinator. “During the six or so weeks our department was the testing ground, I found myself both proud and humbled by how well it was working. I watched as the service and procedures were refined and improved each week — along with figuring out the tech. It was a nice break on Thursday afternoons.”

In January and February, students traveled with the cart, taking payments and filling orders on the spot. The cart was fully funded by a grant from the Quincy-based Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, which provides charitable support for Massachusetts organizations that either teach mechanical arts, provide employment opportunities for the disabled, or use vocational training and workshops as a key part of their programs.

“I’m so impressed by the commitment of the students, and how quickly they learned the tasks,” said Arpino. “There’s a huge sense of pride in doing the work of fulfilling orders and being rewarded with tips. It’s really been wonderful. A few students even became ‘the teachers’ to their other classmates.”

Arpino said the café and vocational education teams are working together on a plan to roll out the coffee cart program on a more permanent basis, which will require the collaboration of many. The plan is to also explore the potential of developing a training curriculum and job opportunity for Cushing’s adult population. Arpino hopes that they will even be able to take the coffee cart to local events and festivals in the community.