Our troops in the Middle East will get a little taste of home this holiday season, courtesy of Starbucks, SCG and the US Air Force.  For the second year in a row, all three of these partners have worked together to deliver Starbucks coffee to our men and women serving overseas. 

Julie Shelton, a Starbuck employee in their Seattle corporate office, is the driving force behind this program.  Concerned that Starbucks was perceived as not supporting our troops, Julie wondered what she could do to help set the record straight.  She got with her department and others in her office to put together “care packages” to send overseas. 

The first 500 lb. shipment was sent through General Myers and his staff who distributed it in conjunction with a USO tour.  It was a huge hit!  This inspired Julie to even greater heights – could she do something for the holidays?  Julie knew she could get her hands on the product – but the shipping costs would be prohibitive.  Lt. Col. Jeb Bishop (Air Force Transportation Policy Office) recommended talking to Michael Reusche at EGL, a retired Air Force officer himself, who was more than happy to help.  Mike then got SCG, The Select Carrier Group involved.  SCG gladly donated the inland transportation services in order to deliver the shipment from Starbuck’s west coast roasting plant to Andrews AFB in Maryland. 

An SCG owner/operator met Julie at Starbuck’s roasting plant in Kent, Washington, where they loaded coffee, tea and tumblers for transport to Andrews AFB.  From Andrews, Lt. Col. Bishop and staff arranged for the products to be delivered to various locations in the Middle East and Africa.  The size of the donated shipment was so large that the military didn’t have space to fly it all.  As a result, several military hospitals in the Washington D.C. area benefited as well.  The reaction from the troops Julie said was “near rock star”!

With such a rousing success in 2005, Starbucks and Julie decided to do it again in 2006.  SCG volunteered to once again transport the shipment.   On November 28^th, SCG picked up over 14,000 pounds of coffee and tumblers from Starbucks roasting plant in Kent and delivered the shipment to Andrews AFB on December 4th.  This year the coffee will be distributed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and their senior staff members as they visit the troops over the holiday season. 

SCG is pleased to help Starbucks send a taste of home to our men and women serving overseas.  At this time of year we believe it is more important than ever to acknowledge our troops and honor their patriotism and personal sacrifice.  All of us at SCG wish to extend our troops our gratitude and best wishes during this holiday season.