Thanks for checking in, I have a new home for now ...

A lot has happened since this last post! Thanks for stopping by, I am now using the following blog:

www.erinleighlovesgoodcoffee.wordpress.com

See you there. ;-)

Gratitude

After a great weekend in Illinois visiting my bestest friend, Glenda, I have been reflecting on all the beautiful blessings in my life. Good friends will engender such thoughts.

On Friday we went out to celebrate St. Piran's Day with the staff at Thousand Hills Coffee. As we learned about St. Piran (something related to Cornwall, England...) I was thankful for the people I work with. We not only have the privilege of doing good work together, I enjoy calling them my friends.


It is not common to feel this way about your coworkers, and I am thankful that I do.

I know I am WEIRD to be thankful for this, but it's raining today. It's pretty gross, and traffic stinks, but it's not bitter cold out there but it's overcast and rainy and, well, I am loving it. :-)

What are you grateful for? -EL

#1 email of the day...

"After conducting a blind taste test, your coffee came out well ahead of the other top rated coffees in America."

This young man is starting a coffee shop in his hometown and he was asked to share his top choices of coffee with their team. I was so excited to hear this from him! I fully agree with him, and might I remind you that I was a fan & advocate of the coffee before I started working here. :-)

In addition to my shared sentiments with him, I am also excited for him to be brewing the coffee because of this. For our sustainability as an organization we need to be the best cup of coffee you drink. If you don't love the coffee, don't drink it. But before we resort to that, can we talk about how you are making it?! :)

The people of Rwanda work hard to make the coffee great. They hand-sort each bean AT LEAST three times! The coffee beans have a limited amount of time to get to the washing station after being picked to ensure the perfect ripe-ness. They take pride in their work, and so do we.

Each day, our Roast Master (Daniel, or DR as you will see him on Twitter) cups the coffee. He tastes every roast as they make it and tweaks it as necessary. He takes pride in his work, and it shows in the coffee.

I hope you can take pride in your work, and that you can enjoy a great cup of Rwandan while doing it. -EL

It's getting messy

My roommate is working on an amazing project where she is required to look through some horrific things. The cool thing is that the research they are collecting is helping to battle a major problem of exploitation in our country, and tonight she said that the actual work (going beyond the talk) is so messy.


Though the work is quite different, my talk with my roommate reminded me of what we are doing in Rwanda, that people who have no alternative for putting food on the table are able to grow coffee. As a single mom, who is probably quite young, what would her alternatives be? It breaks my heart to think of the lengths to which she might crawl. And it brings a smile to my face to know that she is growing coffee, or working in a washing station. Not every woman in Rwanda is, though, which is why we press on in what we do.

I have often thought that if it was my mother, or brother, or daughter who was hungry and desperate, I would want to know that someone somewhere is able to help, and he or she is doing all in his or her power to change my reality. So, we work. A lot. And we travel, serving coffee and sharing the story. We are doing everything in our power to change the reality.

Wow, this is messy. But oh so rewarding! Join us. -EL

Changing the World: With Coffee, with good company, and with a lot of love

This week marked a momentous occasion: the first (of hopefully many!) Change the World Gathering. (www.changetheworldgathering.com) The idea came from Tim Wolfe (www.timwolfe.org) after a conversation with him, Jonathan Rich (http://questionsthatmakepeoplemadatme.blogspot.com) and myself. We were sitting on the patio at the Thousand Hills Roswell store when Tim had the idea to bring his friends together, & them to bring their friends. We could change the world with a group of friends.

Thursday Feb. 11, about 55 people came together at Clairmont Hills Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga. to learn more about Thousand Hills Coffee from Jonathan D. Golden, as well as challenging teaching from Kris McDaniel, Larry Grays, Brian Audia, Todd McMichen, Jonathan Merritt & Nathan Tran. JRich was also there & we talked about his project with Charity:Water.

Not only was it simply a fun day, I feel like we covered a lot of ground. I walked away blessed, encouraged, hopeful for the church & for the work we are doing in Rwanda. A few memorables:

1) I used to view coffee as a right, something I consumed as cheaply as I could find. Now I view coffee as a privilege. -Kris McDaniel

2) You don't have to be particularly wealthy or brilliant to accomplish a lot. Get your friends together and make things happen! -From Todd McMichen's answer to "Why network?"

3) God is at work all over the place. Come together with your community to accomplish more good! -Brian Audia on the work of Surgance

4) This is about changing the world, yet we're eating Chik Fil A and drinking out of bottled water? -Larry Grays on observations for the day

5) Kris McDaniel calling me out on Social Media binging....

6) There were a multitude of people named Jonathan

7) Golden's sentiments to Tim: This is the kindest thing anyone has done for the company. I must echo this, especially after seeing the hours and sacrifices he and his family made. Thank you, Tim, Pam, Ariah, Asa & Nonny.

Do you have some friends you can get together? Email me. Let's talk. erinleigh@drinkcoffeedogood.com

Why Bukonya?

I have had the beautiful privilege of talking with several folks lately who ask, "Why Bukonya?" That is an awesome question.

Bukonya is a village in RURAL northwestern Rwanda. As the coffee company derives its name, this village is on quite the hill! i.e. off the beaten path. This means that relief work and peacekeeping missions were nowhere near this village, and while most of Rwanda stopped officially fighting in 1994 the genocide raged on in Bukonya late into the '90s.

This is where Thousand Hills chose to plant a cooperative. It's difficult, or impossible, to get coffee grown in a hill far away to a cooperative. So, let's take development to the hills! When Robert (Thousand Hills Relationship Director) first traveled to Rwanda four years ago the people of Bukonya thought he was crazy. Not just his looks, but this Washing Station he kept speaking of. Now it is in full force operation! And you can have some: Bukonya Ikawa is now available at DrinkCoffeeDoGood.com.

Doing Good with Cookies :)

I heard from Matt, father of Lauren the cookie-baker extraordinaire! I hope you are as encouraged by her work as me.

2,750 Cookies
Shipped to Georgia, North Carolina,
California, Nebraska, Illinois, South Carolina,
Michigan and Florida to name a few
$3,002.90
12 Bikes!
And a bit of change for the Sustainable Cycle Project

You can read more about the Sustainable Cycle Project here. Who says a ten-year-old can't make a BIG difference??
-EL