Who knew that drinking a cup of coffee could do so much good for the community?

Westlake native Aaron Fazulak knows.

Even while he was living and working in Chicago, Fazulak constantly had the food security needs of Cleveland’s citizens in his mind.

Now that he is back in Cleveland for “90% of his time,” Fazulak has used his entrepreneurial spirit to make something as simple as buying a bag of coffee beneficial to those in Cleveland experiencing food insecurity.

Fazulak co-founded All Cleveland Coffee, a company that donates $1 from every bag purchased to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every time a bag is purchased, three healthy meals are made possible for those in need.

“I wanted to do something that gave back to the community, and just surveyed what would be a great idea to have the Food Bank have an automated way to get contributions every month,” Fazulak says.

All Cleveland Coffee offers three premium roast selections and features the colors of Cleveland's three major sports teams“People drink coffee every month. I landed on coffee, as the local coffee section in grocery stores is not the hardest thing to get into,” he continues. “I just wanted to take my skills and try to do something to give back to the city of Cleveland.”

After hatching his coffee idea, Fazulak knew marketing the new brand of coffee would be helped by celebrity endorsements—in particular, celebrities who have ties to Northeast Ohio and who resonate with Cleveland sports fans.

“I thought, ‘if we can get some big celebrities, that would help us get our mission out, and it would be really helpful for us to achieve that mission,” Fazulak says.

Fazulak was able to get the backing of two of the most well-known Cleveland athletes of this generation: Pro Football Hall of Fame member and retired Browns left offensive tackle Joe Thomas and two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion and Euclid native Stipe Miocic.

“For Joe Thomas, I knew someone that was connected to him, and then, for Stipe, it was a bunch of cold emails and LinkedIn emails trying to get access to someone that was connected to him,” recalls Fazulak of his quest. “It was about two years to get all this together, but I feel very fortunate. I feel like I've got two of the most likable, but also, the best guys that I could have asked for in Cleveland.”

Recently, Miocic, Thomas, and the All Cleveland Coffee staff stopped at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and served All Cleveland Coffee to the workers.

For the star athletes to help market All Cleveland Coffee, Fazulak needed a product worth brewing.

First, he and his partners had to find the right beans, which led him to Café Femenino—an ethical sourcing program based in Peru that focuses on ending poverty in female coffee farmers throughout the world.

Then, All Cleveland Coffee worked with Joe Deinhart of Cleveland-based Solstice Roasters to help roast the beans. Deinhart has decades of roasting experience and has been working with fine dining restaurants in the region, including those owned by renowned chef Michael Symon.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas (left) and former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic (right) serve All Cleveland Coffee to staff members at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank“He'd never partnered with someone, but he loved the mission so much,” Fazulak says of Deinhart’s enthusiasm. “We got along so well, and I told him what we were trying to achieve, which is to narrow or [close] the gap in food at the Food Bank.”

It was love at first sip for Deinhart, says Fazulak, and he gave the medium roast blend a grade of 93 on a 100 scale.

In addition to the medium roast, All Cleveland Coffee also offers light roast and dark roast options. All three roasts have their own uniquely colored bags based on the three major sports teams in Cleveland—the light roast is smooth and sweet with almond flavors and comes in a red and white bag; the medium roast has notes of toffee, cocoa, and graham cracker and is in a wine and gold bag; and the dark roast is bold and nutty and is in a brown and orange bag.

Each 12-ounce bag of beans costs $15.99 and three meals are donated to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank with each bag purchased.

No matter where customers go to get All Cleveland Coffee, Fazulak’s mission remains the same: “To provide one million meals to those in need in the Northeast Ohio community and end hunger today, tomorrow, and for a lifetime.”

“There's such a habitual experience when you drink coffee, and you drink it on a daily basis,” he says. “If we can jump into the mind of the community that you could have the best coffee in Cleveland and give back at the same time, that's going to be a tremendous value to your community.

“With Joe and Stipe, I legitimately believe we can get there in three to four years, have a brand and a business that solves the gap at the Food Bank,” he continues. “After we went to the Food Bank, we have this burning mission in our stomachs that come hell or high water, I think we can solve this problem in Cleveland.”