At the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta last week, we were served fresh-brewed coffee for free the entire time. You would think that the coffee must not be any good if they were giving it away, but the opposite is true. They were giving away good coffee, because there is a story behind the coffee. The name of the coffee is Land of a Thousand Hills, and it is farmed in Rwanda (the country devastated by a civil war that killed millions).
Now Rwanda is rebuilding and trying to recover from the years of strife. Growing coffee for the United States has become a new focus for progress. Every bag of this coffee sold puts money directly back into the farmer's pocket who grew it, plus an additional $1 is invested in a program designed to help genocide widows become entrepreneurs in their own communities. It is a great story, go read it. More importantly, it is great coffee, with a great cause.
Last night I ordered a 5lb. bag of coffee to show my support. I'm no longer going to buy my coffee from a faceless organization. I'm going to keep drinking coffee (lot's of it), but I'm going to contribute to something other than just fattening the pockets of some corporate giants. Drink coffee. Do good.
You can buy coffee from me. I am certainly not a big giant corporation, but I am also not a farmer in Rwanda. Maybe you made the right choice.
ReplyDeleteWe can choose to use our spending habits to do a lot of good if we will simply take the time to be intentional about where our money goes. Maybe we can buy some and sell it through the church. Allow everyone to Drink Coffee and Do Good!