Archive for the ‘Jeff’s Notes’ Category
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16
Apr
2010
Trapichitos Land Title Ceremony
I recently received an email from David Carlson with Agros. I picked a few quotes from that message to share with you. The Land Title Ceremony is the culmination of what these villagers work so hard for!
“…truly it was remarkable and we talked about you in all three villages of Batzchocolá, Trapichitos & Xeucalvitz, passing around an aromatic opened bag of Camano Island Coffee in each as we talked about the demand for their coffee…”
“Diego Bernal (who translated for me into Ixil – when we came to that point) would embellish it, using the moment to reinforce how vital their continued commitment to high quality is to their equation. Thank you for all you’ve done and are doing to support these villagers!”
“Jeff, we have many many photos, (tho’ I don’t have them all collected yet) with the Camano Island coffee bag making the rounds! So we’ll get some choice ones to you!”
Congratulations Trapichitos – the next wonderful addition to Agros’ success stories!
Jeff Ericson
President
CICR
27
Mar
2010
A Meeting with Agros International
This past Wednesday, Dan and I had the opportunity to visit Agros HQ in Seattle. It was a great time and they were very hospitable to us. We were able to share some of the new things CICR has been working on. Many new faces (for me at least) were there for the meeting.
Our customers all know of our close relationship with Agros as we talk about it all the time. Just as it’s important for us to communicate to you the changes you create through being members of our Coffee Lover’s Club, it’s also important for us to spend time communicating our focus with Agros as well. For us, giving Agros a check from our Coffee Lover’s Club orders is only a sustainable act if we can also communicate with Agros and allow them to communicate back. Knowing of Agros’ future goals is part of responsible giving. Allowing Agros to communicate their goals back is part of responsible receiving. We’re so happy to have a wonderful relationship with Agros.
Dan brought his camera and took a few pictures in between making Frozen X-plosion’s and serving brewed coffee.
The table we sat at had a wonderfully colorful tablecloth. Emily at Agros provided Dan and I very delicious sandwiches!
Shannon grabbed Dan’s camera when he came out with the Frozen X-plosion’s for everyone and took a couple great pictures:
Here are a few of the Agros workers enjoying Frozen X-plosion’s.
The purpose of our visit was to for me to share CICR’s vision with Agros and “update” them on the things happening around CICR.
All-in-all, we had a great time.
Jeff – CICR
9
Nov
2009
Tierras de Vida 2009 – Agros Benefit
Saturday evening Dan, Minette (his wife), Jodi (my wife), and I all had the pleasure of attending Agros International’s annual donor banquet, Tierras de Vida. It was a wonderful event complete with a great meal, good company, and many Agros supporters (I heard the number was very close to 400). The atmosphere was electric to say the least. Everyone was talking, meeting new people and swapping Agros stories. Agros was so kind to allow us to put a pound of Camano Island Coffee on the table for each and every person attending. Also, with dinner they served our coffee to the audience.
The night kicked off with Agros’ founder, Skip Li sharing his vision that started the organization. The mic passed on to a couple more people through the night including the Executive Director from Chiapas, Mexico. He gave his first speech in English that night after working on the language for close to 5 years. He did a great job and was actually very easy to understand. He explained the desperate situations in Mexico and what was needed to start correcting the direction of the families in poverty there. The mic then passed on to Hanz Theyer, the new, Chilean born (and quite proud of it) President/CEO of Agros International.
As a side note, I had the pleasure of meeting Hanz a few months back when he was still extremely new to Agros. He is a great man with a very passionate vision for the future and direction of Agros. Saturday evening, he explained (in great detail) the way Agros works. It was a great refresher to hear each step of the 7 year village selection process through the successes Agros has had with the villages that have made it through that process.
Hanz then intro-ed a guest from Guatemala. Her name was Teresa Sánchez López. She had a wonderful story in store for us that I wanted to pass on to our blog followers. She opened up talking about her village. In the beginning (pre-Agros), her village had a lot of issues. The boys were forced to learn how to fight at a young age. The families had to endure many hardships. Then, when they became overwhelmed, they were forced to flee their area. Money was always difficult to come by but at this point, it was almost impossible to get. At the end of their rope, they went to Agros and asked for their assistance to get back on the right track. Agros walked them through the process of becoming a supported village. Agros then helped turn the village around.
Teresa then moved into how Agros had turned her life around. Through her village’s involvement with Agros, she was able to attend University. She obtained a scholarship from “Women’s Enterprise” and was able to graduate. She then told us (through a translator) that she was one of the only women from Ixil to graduate from university. This was met with a standing ovation by the entire group of attendees. She then ended by saying that she planned on taking what she had learned back to her village to further help improve their lives. This was, once again, met with a standing ovation.
The rest of the night was enjoyable and we drove home to Camano. I couldn’t help but notice how important it was for me to have that reminder of Agros’ mission. I highly encourage you all to check out Agros’ Gift Catalog on their website or support them through purchasing our coffee and gifts for the holidays.
I appreciate all of you as you help further CICR’s vision of helping these people see the success that Teresa and her village have seen.
Thanks for spending the time to read this and I hope your November is great!
Jeff – CICR
7
Oct
2009
Is it time to ReThink Your Organization’s Coffee Program?
ReThink Coffee – Sustainable Coffee Program for Organizations and Churches
We wanted to take this opportunity to announce our newest venture with Agros. ReThink coffee is a new way to look at your organization or church missions program. Instead of purchasing coffee that keeps people in a cycle of poverty and then giving money out to various missions, ReThink coffee offers a better way to do real missions work.
Many people do not understand that coffee is the second largest commodity in the world… next to oil. While we can’t make much of a difference with our oil purchases – we can all make a huge difference in our coffee purchases. If every coffee drinker were to be more responsible in their coffee purchases – poverty in many of the world’s rural areas would be overcome.
We use the term “The coffee that helps you sleep at night” because every time you purchase coffee… you know that you are helping third-world farmers on their path to sustainability. This work allows us to truly “Teach a man to fish” instead of “giving a man a fish”. When we help a family through loans and education to first own their own land this gives them the opportunity to have hope for their future and as a direct result of our support for the products they grow they now have life. When we give them a handout or a short-term fix, fear is created because they don’t know who to go to tomorrow.
As Americans, we must change our thinking from “is this the best price for coffee?” to “will this small amount of money be multiplied to create the most good in the lives of the people who earn it?”
For more information please go to www.agros.org and remember whenever you purchase your next package of coffee, make sure it is certified organic…shade grown…and fairly traded.
Thanks for coming along with us on this journey of responsible consumerism – and remember next time you are re-thinking your coffee selection…there is really a coffee that helps you sleep at night.
If you’re interested in getting coffee for your organization or you are looking for a new church coffee program, please visit ReThink Coffee’s website.
Jeff – CICR
13
Aug
2009
Serving Stanwood and Camano Island at the Community Fair
Well, the time as come and gone. Every year we look forward to serving coffee to our community (and yes, hoping to pick up a few new prosumers). It’s amazing the connections we make each year. Some of our longest lasting customers are those we’ve had the pleasure of meeting first hand at the different local fairs around Washington.
For us, the Stanwood/Camano Island Fair is a “getting back to our roots” event. Dan and I have been sampling our coffee since the beginning of CICR at fairs. It’s the perfect occasion to spend time with the loyal customers that gave us our start. Many of our customers around the nation stem from a group of very loyal, local customers.
We uploaded a few videos to our YouTube account and will be adding them to our blog shortly. The coffee booth was hopping with activity. We “tweeted” live when possible and even involved some customers in a project we are working on for our sister company, Frozen X-plosion (Blend On!). Also at the fair, many great local companies were involved such as The Everett Herald, Del Fox Custom Meats, Sahara Pizza, Windermere Reality, and our Local Fire and Police Departments. I’m sure I’ve left many out (feel free to add them in the comments) as there were many, many vendors and businesses present.
The big hit around the fair with most of the workers was the CICR Acrylic Commuter mug. Many saw a sea of commuter mugs topped off with CICR’s Papua New Guinea Medium Roast Coffee throughout the whole fair.
All in all, we made over 200 airpots of our fresh roasted, Papua New Guinea Coffee. We gave away over 1,000 samples and had people purchase over 100 commuter mugs (filled with coffee of course). Our coffee wouldn’t stay on the shelves and we ended up selling over 300 pounds to the local community and visitors.
“Thanks!” to all who came and/or followed our event through our social sites.
Jeff – CICR
6
Jun
2009
Thank You for Your Generosity!
At Camano Island Coffee Roasters we are blessed to have a 97% retention rate of our Coffee Lover’s Club members. We have many loyal customers that understand that their coffee purchases can really help change the world.
Recently, we had a member who had to cancel their membership after more than five years of receiving our coffee. When we heard the news of their job loss, we were all saddened that a “family” member was in financial pain. Then, to our surprise, another customer stepped forward and purchased coffee to send them as a gift. Once more we were reminded that we really do have the most charitable customers on earth and that coffee is not a product but a force that can create change both here in the US and around the world.
All of us here at Camano Island Coffee Roasters want all of our customers to know how much we appreciate them. Each one of you could buy coffee from many places, but you have chosen to purchase coffee from a company that is striving to be a good steward of your dollars.
Thank you for your loyalty – even in these tough economic times. We all wait for the things to change, but our work needs to be done regardless of the state of the US economy. Without each of you, we would not be able to continue in our goal of creating sustainable change for our “third-world” families.
Sincerely,
Jeff – CICR
