A coffee shop toast to graduates & soldiers

This week, I combined a rare business trip with a coffee road trip. Since this week is the anniversary of my graduate graduation, I decided a coffee shop toast was in order! I treated myself to coffee at Jackson's Java near UNCC. The shop, as always, was full of students plus a few business people chatting over coffee.

I gave thanks that I was not one of the students hunkered down during finals week. I wanted to jump up and down, raise my cup in the air, and offer a toast, but I dared not gloat in a room full of caffeinated 20-somethings stressed over chemistry, calculus and Shakespeare. In case you missed it, I was jumping up and down on the inside!

As locally-owned coffee shops tend to do, Jackson's also makes the world a better place. Next to the tip jar is a clear box labeled "GI Java." Donations are collected to send coffee to U.S. troops overseas. Each time I visit, I skim the thank you letters posted on a bulletin board in the back of the shop. The troop leaders who get to divvy up the coffee among their troops are sincerely grateful to Jackson's and its customers.

It's hard to imagine the sacrifices the troops make to carry out their orders. As grumpy as I am on any given day before I've had coffee, I can't imagine doing what these men and women do on behalf of our country. The least we can do is help fuel their work with some freshly roasted, gourmet coffee.

There's not much that I can do for the soldiers who spend their days or nights on patrol. But I can help send them some tasty coffee so they, too, can enjoy coffee shop treats. Can you think of anyone who deserves it more?

Uploaded from Holy Joe's Cafe on facebook

For more about coffee shops making the world a better (and safer) place, read about these two examples: http://oregonmildep.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
http://www.holyjoescafe.org/