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Founded in 2021, The Sunshine Cafe is more than just a place to grab a coffee; it's a vibrant space designed to support youth-driven projects and events.

We believe in empowering young people by giving them the opportunity to develop valuable workforce skills while contributing to their community. Join us in building connections and creating memories at The Sunshine Cafe!

HOURS

Fri & Sat

Sun

5 PM - 9 PM

12 PM - 5 PM

Menu

Fri & Sat
Sun

HOURS

5 PM - 9 PM

12 PM - 5 PM

The Sunshine Cafe Menu

Founded in 2021, The Sunshine Cafe is more than just a place to grab a coffee; it's a vibrant space designed to support youth-driven projects and events.

We believe in empowering young people by giving them the opportunity to develop valuable workforce skills while contributing to their community. Join us in building connections and creating memories at The Sunshine Cafe!

WINCHENDON YOUTH CHANGEMAKERS

Our Story

2019: Students from the Winchendon School and Murdock High School collaborated with the goal in mind to identify what Winchendon was lacking and ways they envisioned a more active and desirable place to live. This group of students collectively decided that Winchendon was in desperate need for a space designated for teenagers. With this, the idea of creating a Youth Cafe came into fruition.

2020: When Covid-19 took over, plans to move forward with this project were put on hold until a new group of student leaders from Murdock High School and the Winchendon School (The Youth Changemaker Leaders) took over the project. With a push cart and coffee supplies donated from The Winchendon School, the Youth Changemaker Leaders sprung into action. Pushing their new coffee cart all across Winchendon, their goal was to attend as many community events as they could. Their cart was coined the Mobile Cafe, and was seen at Community Park events, Concerts In The Park, football games, Fall Fest, and more. Their goal was to generate enough funds to be able to become a sustainable business! In doing so, they also partnered with local organizations, like United Way Youth Venture, where they developed a "business plan" of community action and received seed funding to purchase a speaker, tables, and chairs for customers to sit at when they were at events so as to increase their profits.

2021-2023: Over time, and after pushing the Mobile Cart around the town consistently, and working out of the Winchendon CAC Farm Stand, the vision and mission for the future became clearer. The Youth Changemakers began collaborating with The Winchendon CAC and The HEAL Collaborative to develop plans for a physical Cafe space and decided to name their initiative The Sunshine Cafe. They chose this name because they hope the Café radiates positivity, joy, hope, community, and growth for all! 

2024: With the CAC moving into what is now known as The HUB, the Youth Changemakers are finally seeing their hard work pay off with a permanent Cafe within the Bowling space of the building. Their continuous goal is to bring people together and build community, with a specific focus on helping teens in Winchendon by increasing their sense of belonging and mental health.

The Sunshine Cafe is run by Youth Changemaker teens and regularly hosts events specifically for teens. These events act as healthy out-of-school engagement opportunities for fun, socialization, and to learn more about important topics related to mental health and self-care.

Every dollar spent at The Sunshine Cafe, whether it be on a cup of their signature hand-squeezed lemonade or a freshly baked cookie, directly supports The Sunshine Cafe to remain an independently run Cafe by teens for teens.

two hands holding a brown kraft paper gift box with a blue and white polka dotted ribbon

GIVE THE GIFT OF

COMMUNITY

WITH GIFTCARDS TO THE HUB

REDEEMABLE FOR BOWLING, ITEMS FROM THE SUNSHINE CAFE, OR TOWARDS A MAKERSPACE MEMBERSHIP

birds eye-view of coffe in coffee cups with a green background

EVERY DOLLAR
SPENT SUPPORTS WINCHENDON YOUTH

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