Long before the Bonzer Foundation (the Foundation) formally existed, classrooms were being strengthened, students were discovering new opportunities, families were receiving practical assistance, community fundraising events were bringing people together, domestic violence initiatives were being assisted, animal welfare organisations were being supported, & local needs were being met whenever the opportunity arose.
For more than 15 years, these activities were funded through a combination of personal commitment, customer generosity, local partnerships, grassroots fundraising, & community support centred around Cup of Joey AZ (Cup of Joey). The work was never driven by organisational status. It grew through relationships, trust, & a simple belief that when a need is recognised, people can work together to help fill the gap.
As those relationships continued to grow, so too did the opportunity to create something that could support the work over the long term. The Foundation was established to provide a permanent charitable home for initiatives already taking place, while creating new opportunities to strengthen education, encourage innovation, support research, improve community wellbeing, & expand partnerships capable of creating lasting impact.
The Foundation exists because the work came first. It continues through the ongoing generosity, trust, & participation of the communities, partners, volunteers, customers, educators, donors, & supporters who continue to make the work possible.
Seven documented Oklahoma City Public Schools grants totaling $36,000, including district-wide top-ranked submissions two years running, supporting science, mathematics, literacy & classroom learning initiatives at Linwood Elementary.
Prior to & during the COVID-19 period, cash tips collected through the Cup of Joey coffee truck were donated to a number of animal rescue & animal welfare organizations supporting rescue, care, rehabilitation & community-based animal support efforts. These initiatives formed part of broader community-focused support activities connected to local wellbeing, compassion-driven giving & grassroots community engagement.
As these efforts continued to grow, Cup of Joey also became a visible supporter of pet adoption events. Separately, we partnered with local Canine Companions volunteers to help raise community awareness of animal welfare, the life-changing role of assistance dogs & the vital contribution they make to the people they serve. The café regularly welcomed assistance dogs in training, providing a safe community environment where they could develop critical socialization & behavioral skills while interacting with the public. Cup of Joey has also remained proudly dog-friendly, encouraging customers to share the café experience with their own four-legged family members.
Our family has personally rescued six dogs since 2010, reinforcing a long-standing belief that animal welfare begins not only with organizations, but also with everyday acts of compassion within the community.
Since opening Cup of Joey in Mesa in 2014, community support has grown through long-term relationships with schools, educators, students, families, PTOs, & local organisations. Rather than operating as a formal program, support has evolved in response to locally identified needs, with each initiative shaped in collaboration with the school or community involved.
Over the years, these activities have included PTO fundraising partnerships, the parent "Buy a Teacher a Drink" program, teacher appreciation initiatives, classroom support, onsite coffee truck events, literacy engagement activities, & grassroots fundraising supporting schools, educators, & families across Mesa & surrounding communities.
Community support has also extended to student activities & extracurricular programs. Through Red Mountain High School, Cup of Joey has supported baseball, softball, football, girls' beach volleyball, & a range of other school-based initiatives, together with ongoing fundraising & community engagement activities.
During the 2024 school year, Cup of Joey visited Red Mountain High School to recognise the students, teachers, & support staff involved in the Mountain Movers Club, providing complimentary drinks from the coffee truck in celebration of the contribution made by the school's Special Education community. During the same year, community support also included helping provide prom dresses, makeup, & formal attire for students who otherwise may not have been able to participate in their senior prom.
During the 2026 graduation period, Cup of Joey again supported the Mountain Movers Club by delivering 65 complimentary drinks for graduating students, teachers, & support staff, helping celebrate an important milestone for the Special Education program. These initiatives were made possible through the generosity of Cup of Joey customers & were provided at no cost to the school.
While the Foundation has only recently been established as a nonprofit organisation, the relationships that underpin its work have developed progressively through more than a decade of sustained community engagement.
Today, the Foundation begins its charitable work with established relationships across a broad cross-section of Mesa Public Schools. Future educational, creative, & research initiatives will only proceed in partnership with participating schools, respecting District leadership, principal oversight, & the professional judgement of classroom teachers. The Foundation's role is not to direct educational practice, but to support educators by helping identify resources, create opportunities, & remove barriers where communities believe additional support would be valuable.
School communities that have helped shape these initiatives included:
The nature and extent of support has varied between schools according to locally identified needs, including fundraising partnerships, classroom support, teacher appreciation initiatives, extracurricular activities, literacy engagement, community service projects, & student-focused initiatives.
After developing & implementing the "Buy a Teacher a Drink" program with schools, one enduring & unexpected pattern emerged. The drink is rarely what teachers remember most. More often, they speak about the simple recognition behind the gesture. Parents have apologised for missing their opportunity to "catch" a teacher's drink, teachers have commented that staff morale lifts when they know the program is returning, & principals have observed the positive effect that small acts of recognition can have across an entire campus. Those experiences have reinforced an important lesson for the Foundation: people are often changed less by the value of a gift than by the knowledge that someone noticed, appreciated, & cared.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the closure of the Red Mountain Farmers Market at the Mesa Community College Red Mountain Campus left local vendors without a venue & removed an important Saturday morning gathering place for the surrounding community.
Recognising that Zaharis Elementary School offered an ideal open-air environment with suitable facilities, Cup of Joey worked collaboratively with the market owner & then-Principal Mike Oliver to explore whether the market could be temporarily relocated to the school. Following approval by Mesa Public Schools, the market operated from the Zaharis campus for approximately 12–14 consecutive Saturday mornings. The market owner also assumed responsibility for the associated janitorial costs.
The temporary relocation enabled local businesses to continue operating, provided families with an opportunity to reconnect during a period of significant community isolation, & allowed many students to see classmates, teachers, & neighbours outside the classroom in a safe outdoor environment. Throughout its operation, the market was exceptionally well attended.
The initiative also generated approximately $4,000 for Zaharis Elementary before the market later relocated to Peoria as COVID restrictions eased.
Through Cup of Joey community initiatives, ongoing support has included complimentary handcrafted hydration beverages & restroom access for Mesa Police officers, Mesa Fire personnel, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office personnel & wildland firefighters serving the local community. Over the past four years, this has included approximately 1,000 individually prepared complimentary hydration beverages, each prepared as a small expression of appreciation for those who dedicate themselves to protecting our community every day.
The long-standing relationships built through these initiatives led to Cup of Joey serving as the filming location for a professionally produced Mesa Police recruitment video in 2024. Community partnerships continued in 2025 through initiatives connected to Global Ties Arizona, the Mesa Police Department & the City of Mesa, including donation-supported Coffee Circle events for law enforcement & public safety personnel, promotion of the Mesa Police Department's 9/11 Blood Drive through Cup of Joey's community network, donation of community prizes to encourage participation, & the creation of original promotional music to support the event.
These efforts form part of broader community-focused initiatives centered on hospitality, practical support, community partnership & the quiet recognition of those who serve others.
Following severe storm damage at Zaharis Elementary in September 2023, Cup of Joey supported community recovery efforts through coordinated GoFundMe fundraising & in-café cash contributions, raising approximately $4,000 to assist teachers with uninsured classroom needs & essential recovery items.
In addition to financial support, several Cup of Joey customers donated household furniture — including lounge seating & other personal items — to help replace belongings teachers had lost during the storm event. Donations were coordinated through Cup of Joey, with a staging area established at the school for organized delivery & distribution.
The Cup of Joey coffee truck was also deployed onsite to support teachers & staff returning to campus during recovery operations, providing food & beverage service during the reopening period.
Local media coverage: ABC15 News reported on the storm impact & community response.
During 2024 & 2025, Cup of Joey hosted two complimentary after-hours community education afternoons featuring a volunteer educator from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension's Maricopa County Master Gardener Program. The sessions focused on practical gardening in Arizona, including how to successfully grow plants in low-desert conditions while using water responsibly & efficiently. Offered free of charge, these events reflected Cup of Joey's ongoing commitment to sharing practical knowledge, encouraging environmental stewardship, & creating opportunities for community learning beyond the classroom.
During the 2024 and 2025 holiday seasons, Cup of Joey partnered with United Food Bank in Mesa, Arizona, to host annual customer food drives supporting Arizona families experiencing food insecurity.
These food drives were made possible through the generosity of the Cup of Joey community, demonstrating how a neighbourhood café can bring people together to create meaningful local impact. In recognition of the 2025 campaign, United Food Bank formally thanked the Cup of Joey community for helping provide nutritious meals to 800+ families throughout Arizona (see Past Grants & Impact tab).
Volunteer literacy & classroom engagement activities connected to Joey Goes to Arizona have included live book readings & interactive sessions with Kindergarten through 2nd grade students at four elementary schools in Mesa. These events are designed to encourage early reading development, creativity, participation, & positive learning experiences.
Activities focus on student engagement & educational enrichment rather than commercial sales or promotional activity. Sessions are delivered in partnership with schools as volunteer-led community engagement efforts, with an emphasis on accessibility, participation, & early learning support.
Community support initiatives connected to A New Leaf have included coordinated donations of hygiene products, including tampon drives & essential personal care items, along with toy donations to comfort children in family transition environments.
Additional support has included coffee & hospitality-based community engagement activities designed to provide dignity-centered service environments for women, children, & families needing assistance.
These initiatives have been community-driven & volunteer-led, focused on material assistance & relational support rather than commercial activity, with the intent of supporting stability, dignity, & immediate practical needs for families in crisis contexts.
Through an Amazon Community Grant, Cup of Joey secured $4,000 in funding for Stevenson Elementary, highlighted in the first edition of Joey Goes to Arizona, to provide copies of the book to campus students. The grant was obtained without charge or commission, reflecting the same community-first approach that ultimately led to the formation of the Bonzer Foundation. The school participated financially through a donation tied to every book sold.
Community-connected educational support efforts also included a $5,000 Arizona Diamondbacks/Honeywell STEM Grant benefiting Mendoza Elementary in 2025. The grant funded a novel hovercraft STEM project that culminated with the school's principal racing across the gym floor on a hovercraft in front of cheering 6th grade students.
The Bonzer Foundation was established, in part, to support broader community initiatives & independent research exploring education, technology, wellness, innovation, & responsible AI collaboration.
Our founders previously developed & commercialized the Oska Pulse, an innovative Class 1 FDA-cleared pain relief medical device introduced in 2015. Manufactured in the United States, the Oska Pulse reflects the same philosophy of independent research, practical innovation, commercialization, & community benefit that now underpins the Foundation.
Current work focuses on strengthening educational outcomes, encouraging the responsible integration of AI into education, advancing STEM & STEAM participation, & supporting community-centered research. SBIR, STTR, university, nonprofit, & commercial partnership opportunities remain under active consideration where they align with the Foundation's educational & community mission.
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