METRO VANCOUVER -- A not-for-profit society is giving away its coffee shop, including about $100,000-worth of equipment and furnishings, to the lucky winner of an essay-writing contest.

Anyone is eligible to send in a 200-word essay in the contest, being run by Small Ritual Coffee Society on Johnston Road in White Rock. The society hopes to hand over the keys to the new operator by May 1, 2016.

“We’re giving away equipment and leasehold improvement,” said Rydé Harding, chair of the society.

“We’re also willing to train whoever wins and their team for a whole month.”

Since the contest started in August, about six people have entered, she said. Each entry costs $100. The society is encouraging the public to donate $100 to sponsor people who want to enter but can’t afford the fee.

“You don’t even have to be Canadian to win,” she said. “I don’t care if you’re from Timbuktu as long as you kick ass in the essay contest.”

Harding said the society is giving away the coffee shop because of its location in White Rock at 1237 Johnston, about nine blocks north of Marine Drive and the waterfront. It’s difficult place to get to for people on transit and for the societies’ clients, many of whom live in Surrey Central and the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

The society was started in 2009 with a philosophy of improving health by building community, Harding said. The programs it runs from the café include training people with disabilities and new Canadians with no local work history. As well, the café also helps youth at risk, hosts gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender socials and holds cooking classes for seniors and men living on their own.

Harding said the society hasn’t yet decided on its next community health project.

The society is recommending the winner operate the business on a for-profit basis. Harding said the café’s goal had been to generate $500 a day in sales.

Kevin Hill is a freelance photographer who has submitted two essays (every person is allowed to send in four). Hill, who lives in South Surrey, said Small Ritual is his favourite coffee house in Metro Vancouver.

He said with all the nearby condo development, White Rock needs a place where the community can become engaged.

“I have big dreams for the place,” he said. “I want to keep it as a space for local artists and a place for local community groups to meet.”

Harding said while the society has built a unique coffee shop in White Rock, there is no guarantee that whoever wins the essay contest will keep it that way.

“It depends on what they want to do,” she said. “There is no rule that it has to stay as a coffee shop.”

She said some people in White Rock know what Small Ritual is and make a point of buying coffee from them because of what it does. Others have no idea of the society’s small-scale interventions in people’s health.

“Some people think that ‘small ritual coffee society’ is a play on the cult of coffee,” he said. “They don’t know it’s actually what we do. The whole idea is that when you walk in it looks like a nice café — it’s not meant to be a programming office.”

Initially, contest applicants have to write one 200-word essay on one of four topics that include why the person is qualified to run the café and the importance of art in society.

On Feb. 10, 2016 ten finalists will be announced. They’ll be asked to write a 1,000-word essay on how they plan to keep the community spirit alive in the café. The winner will be announced March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. Training of the winner is scheduled to begin March 31. Details are at smallritualcoffee.org.

kevingriffin@vancouversun.com