Coffee shop send coffee to troops overseas

[ZenDog]

Covington is a few miles north of Memphis, fyi. I guess not all Starbucks folks are hippie-liberal-commie flag burnin' sorts.

Coffee shop send coffee to troops overseas

It all started last year when the crew at the Covington Starbucks came up with the idea of sending their special blend of java overseas. Over one year later, they are continuing the effort.

"We are so thankful for you," "Thanks for keeping us safe," and "You are my heroes."

Those are some of the messages Mid-Southerners wrote on bags of coffee headed to US soldiers serving in Iraq.

Covington Starbucks Manager Julie Curry said, "Its just a wonderful show of support for the troops whether its from our customers, whether its from some of our baristas, managers...we just wanna let the troops know that we are thinking of them during this time."

"Well, I mean it just does my heart good," said Starbucks employee Michael Pruitt.

Michael Pruitt is proud to be a part of the Scoops for Troops campaign. A nationwide effort started at the Covington store.

Since the coffee collection began, over three thousand pounds of coffee has now been shipped to troops overseas in Iraq.

Customers can either purchase coffee or make a donation for the troops.

Ed Timberlake of Covington said, "I think its great especially because it gives them something from home and it makes a difference."

"The fact they've just rallied around us to help us support the troops, its just been wonderful," said Curry.

And Starbucks customers like Timberlake are proud to say, " Good things start in Covington."

You can visit any Starbucks store in the Mid-South from now through June first. Just tell employees you want to donate to the Scoops for Troops campaign.

[strickj]

I think its a great idea,but man,if I have to re-mortgage my home to get a large(what ever its called) I couldnt imagine sending that same cup overseas

[Guest shadow12]

I was up north, Camp Danger"Tikrit", and went into the USO. I asked where we could coffee, they showed me the cafe they had set up, it was wonderful, and I told them so. I went on to explain that we had Messhall coffee when we could get it. One of the workers took me out back to a tractor trailer storage area. They gave me Starbucks coffe bags, more than I could get into the truck, had to bust open the cases and squeeze bags in wherever we could. I eventually gave away some of it before we left country.

[Guest TNDixieGirl]

This is actually not a first, so to speak. Starbucks employees have been doing this for awhile.

Taken from the Starbucks website:

"Each week Starbucks partners (employees) receive one free pound of coffee. On an individual, grass roots level, many partners (employees) in the U. S. have collected their free coffee and shipped thousands of pounds of Starbucks coffee overseas.

Partners in our Atascadero, California store sent their personal weekly allotment of coffee to troops in Afghanistan so they would be able to enjoy a little taste of home.

Our customer relations department in Seattle donated hundreds of pounds of coffee to the sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier."

http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=684&r=1