Event Diaries: Café for a Day with Coffee Sarap
Leadership in action
Early on a sunny morning, the students put on their aprons and prepared to run their own pop-up cafe at Coffee Sarap. As they gathered in a small morning huddle, everyone reviewed their roles, repeated drink names, and began prepping ingredients for their special menu. You could feel the nerves, but also the excitement.
But this didn’t just happen within one afternoon.
What they built
In 3 sessions, students worked with the team behind Coffee Sarap, a Denver café rooted in Filipino hospitality and care. Students got a behind-the-scenes look at how the café operates, try new flavors, and discovered how local businesses can be a force for community care and social good.
Student’s named their pop-up, Giveaway Café, where every dollar they raise through their special menu will be donated to four organizations that represents communities causes they are passionate for.
Students brainstormed on what their menu would look like on their first day. They centered the drinks and snacks around their own memories and culture, even coming up with original names for the drinks like “Hibiscus Pop,” “Kaisen Cashew,” and “Purple Mountain Ube.”
How they got there
Before students built a café, they learned from women who built one.
Meet Coffee Sarap’s Creators
Chelsey Solemsaas and Hannah Cambronero
Entrepreneurs and Creators of Coffee Sarap
Chelsey (she/her) and Hannah (she/her) are the co-owners of Coffee Sarap, a Denver café rooted in Filipino hospitality, creativity, and community care. As Filipino American women, they grew up seeing limited representation of Asian women in leadership and entrepreneurship and are passionate about being that visibility for future generations.
Beyond their café, they hold many roles, mothers, wives, and community builders, who find joy in cooking and yoga, and in every opportunity to share their love of Filipino food, especially desserts infused with ube and pandan.
Session 1: Behind the scenes
In Session 1, students started by visiting Coffee Sarap to observe the cafe environment and ambiance. A special part about Chelsey and Hannah’s philosophy is their mission to uplift small businesses by providing the space and platform to provide these opportunities, just like how they have welcomed our students. To honor their mission, students brainstormed what causes and current events they were passionate about so they too could uplift organizations that they feel connected to. They reflected on how a space makes people feel welcome, what small details signal belonging and why are we asking people to gather. Students were able to sit down and get to know co-owners Chelsey and Hannah, who shared how their Filipino heritage and values shaped the café’s mission.
Students asked Chelsey and Hannah:
What is the most difficult part of running a business?
How do you decide what flavors to add to the menu?
How do you compete with other big chain competitors?
What is the best thing you can do as an employee to make customers happy / How do you deal with hard customers?
How did you get the inspiration for this café / How did you start it?
Their first session wasn’t about logistics but more about imagining what their own café would look, feel, and represent.
Session 2: Strategy and Skill-Building
Session 2 moved from reflection to decision making. In teams, students finalized their café name, menu, and sourcing details. Students collaborated to create the logo, flier, and writing a story card that explained their mission. They then chose the organizations they’d like to donate to, assigned roles for event day, and talked through responsibilities. This was where leadership became tangible through compromise, clarifying ideas, and making collective decisions. The other half of the day, Chelsey and Hannah walked through operational training that involved greeting customers, using the point of sale system, taking orders, and preparing drinks while maintaining sanitary practices.
Purpose Before Profit
Through combined passions and interests, students chose four organizations.
Click through to hear why our students chose each.
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What do they do? Advance food justice and community well-being in areas impacted by food apartheid in the Denver Metro area.
Why did we choose Kaizen Food Rescue? We chose this organization because it is run by an Asian woman and because they strive to give members of the community food stability, both through distribution, and through culturally-inclusive gardening.
Want to learn more? Visit kaizenfoodrescue.com
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What do they do? As Colorado’s only statewide public media network, Rocky Mountain PBS provides journalism and education on a wide range of issues and news.
Why did we choose Rocky Mountain PBS? We wish to support and help our current environment by raising awareness. We also want to support educational programming!
Want to learn more? Visit rmpbs.org
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What do they do? Provide live I.C.E. reports and provides support through legal and humanitarian resources to immigrants.
Why did we choose Colorado Rapid Response Network? I.C.E. has become an increasingly concerning issues that needs to be addressed. The people who suffer at their hands deserve justice and the resources they need.
Want to learn more? Visit coloradorapidresponsenetwork.com
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What do they do? One in five children face a mental health or learning disorder, yet most never receive care. With early identification and treatment, we can change that.
Why did we choose Child Mind Institute? “As some who was diagnosed with AuDHD, school was difficult for me to get through. We can’t even imagine how difficult it would be for someone who’s undiagnosed or struggling with mental health to get through school.” - Jane S.
Want to learn more? Visit childmind.org
Students talked through different causes, asked hard questions about urgency and access, and considered who would be directly affected by the funds. The final selections were made collectively, not quickly. And instead of deciding for the community, they built in space for customers to choose where their money would go. That decision reflected something bigger than fundraising. It showed values-based leadership in practice, where transparency, shared power, and intention guided every step.
Session 3: Event Day
Session 3 was the day where all their hard work comes to fruition. Students set up, rotated through stations, and ran the café themselves. They welcomed guests and made all their drinks with craft and care. Voices that shook in the first hour became steady by the second. Students rotated through cashiering, taking orders, preparing drinks, running food, and calling out names. When something went wrong, they adjusted. When someone felt overwhelmed, another stepped in. They weren’t waiting for adults to fix things. They handled it together.
Their impact: in just two hours, they raised $1,759.
Closing reflection
One parent shared afterward that their child “had a blast and is talking about dreaming of her own cafe / coffee shop one day. She had a fantastic time and we so appreciate you and AGI. I hope there will be more programs like this. I wish I had an opportunity like that when I was [their] age.”
Chelsey reflected that she was “super proud of students for stepping right into the action and jumping into something completely new, day of.” She shared how impressed she was watching them take initiative in real time.
For Annabel, Asian Girls Ignite’s Program Coordinator, “seeing everything the students designed come to life was really special. I didn’t want to hold their hand through any part of this, and on the day of the café, you could see them take ownership of all their hard work. I felt honored that they trusted me, Hannah, and Chelsey with this first iteration of the series. There was a lot we didn’t know going in, but we all chose to take the chance. Watching the community show up the way they did made it even more meaningful.”
Thank you to Hannah and Chelsey of Coffee Sarap for modeling what values-driven entrepreneurship looks like and for investing their time and mentorship in our students. And thank you to the community members who came out, stood in line, and chose to support youth-led impact.
How Asian Girls Ignite nurtures leadership
Café for a Day is part of Asian Girls Ignite’s High School Program, where leadership moves beyond discussion and into practice. This series is designed as a hands-on, creative experience where students plan, design, and run their own café from start to finish. Inspired by their experiences with food, culture, and community, they build a space rooted in connection and purpose. The final café becomes both a fundraiser and a public demonstration of what they’ve learned.
But Giveaway Café was more than a single event. It reflected the larger arc of the High School Program. Students build on the identity work they began in middle school and step into leadership in visible, real-world ways. They are not only reflecting on who they are. They are organizing, collaborating, making decisions, and leading in front of their communities.
The focus is intentional. Through self-actualization, leadership skills, and solidarity, students examine how identity, culture, and advocacy intersect, and they practice speaking up, coordinating with a team, navigating conflict, and taking responsibility for outcomes.
They experienced the full responsibility of operating a small business. When mistakes happened, they handled them together. If someone forgot a step or felt flustered, another student stepped in without hesitation. By the middle of the event, the teamwork felt steady and self-directed.
At Asian Girls Ignite, growth begins with connection. Across our five programs, AANHPI girls and gender-expansive youth move from discovering who they are to leading with confidence and care for others. Giveaway Café is one example of that continuum in action. It shows what happens when students are given space, structure, and trust to lead.
Events in our High School Program like Café for a Day are made possible by community investment.
When you give to Asian Girls Ignite, you fund experiences where students: Turn identity into innovation. Turn values into action. Turn leadership into impact.
About Asian Girls Ignite
Founded in October 2020, Asian Girls Ignite is a non-profit organization that provides educational programs for AANHPI girls and gender-expansive youth to celebrate their individual and collective power. We use storytelling to empower the next generation to write their futures in their own voice. Our programs and events nurture social-emotional learning to help our students grow in resilience, empathy, and self-awareness.
About Coffee Sarap
Ten years after reconnecting over playdates and Filipino feasts, we’ve transformed our kitchen-table bond into Coffee Sarap, the café we always dreamed of together. Rooted in Filipino-American heritage and crafted in the heart of Denver’s RiNo district, our space is the alchemy of several years of dreams and ambition that we couldn't possibly be more proud of.