The ritual of catching up over a steaming cup of joe is one to be cherished. With the comfort of a coffee in your hand and the listening ear of a pal, you can let out whatever ails your mind and find peace again. For those affected by mental illness, sometimes all they need is to sit down and talk, over a coffee, with someone who can help support them. For the month of October, The Coffee Break Project is encouraging you to give up your daily coffee to help support the one in five Australians that will suffer from mental illness during their lifetime. For every $12 you donate from your daily coffee fund, The Coffee Break Project will put it toward a weekly coffee and chat for someone isolated by mental illness.

If you can’t completely give up coffee for a whole month, you can still make your coffee count by grabbing your daily brew from a participating Cafe Ambassador. Ambassadors include Sassafras, Moose & Gibson and Brother Espresso, allowing you to donate your coffee change there instead of giving up coffee completely.

The Coffee Break Project will kick off with a rooftop soiree on September 25, where you can bid farewell to coffee with live entertainment and a few espresso martinis. Tickets are available online, and all proceeds of the event will be donated to the project.

Image via Jay Mantri.