MARCH 28, 2003
 
 
U.S. ARMED FORCES TO RECEIVE 50,000 CUPS OF COFFEE. .NEWHALL COFFEE ROASTING COMPANY CREATES "PATRIOT BLEND" COFFEE
 
Santa Clarita, California -- In an effort to support U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq, Newhall Coffee Roasting Company will ship 1000 pounds of coffee called the Patriot Blend to U.S. Armed Forces via the American Red Cross Quality of Life Program. The 1,000 pounds of coffee are packaged as 4,000 individual portion packs, which will make 50,000 cups of coffee.

"Like most of us in the United States, the needs of our U.S. Armed Forces fighting a war tugs at our heart strings and we wanted to find a way to serve," said Mitch McMullen, co-founder of the Newhall Coffee Roasting Company. "We wanted to help, and this is the only way we knew how."

According to McMullen, he first contacted the USO to find out how he might donate coffee to the U.S. military. While the USO was researching McMullen's options to carry out such a project, McMullen read a newspaper article about the American Red Cross (Palmdale/Antelope Valley Chapter) Quality of Life Program, which was requesting donations of "Quality of Life" items from individuals, groups and businesses to help bring comfort to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.

 
  "Due to the necessary security measures, the military will only accept public donations of articles through shipments from American Red Cross offices," said McMullen. "Our original idea was to create a new line of coffee called the Patriot Blend and have the program in place and online in a week or two. However because the Red Cross had a limited window of collection being March 24 - March 29, 2003, we had to work fast. So our staff began working around the clock on Tuesday, March 25th, to design the new coffee blend, design new labels, and then bag 4,000 bags of coffee to meet the Red Cross deadline of March 29th."

"The Patriot Blend coffee is made from the highest graded Arabica beans (Guatemala Huehuetenango SHB, Sumatra Mandheling Grade 1, and Brazil Santos #19 screen)," said Kyle McMullen, brother of Mitch McMullen and co-founder of Newhall Coffee [Mitch McMullen] Roasting Company. "We have designed a special label for the product with an American Flag and the words "We Support Our Troops!" because we want to get the message across to these men and woman who are so faithfully serving the United States."

In addition to the American Red Cross Quality of Life donation, the McMullen Brothers will sell the Patriot Blend in one pound bags online at www.newhallcoffe.com and give a $1 for every bag of coffee sold to the U.S.O.

 "It is our hope we can also carry the Patriot Blend to the local retail shelves of the grocery stores our product is sold in," said Kyle McMullen. "We are currently contacting those retailers for permission to expand our line, with the idea being for every one pound bag of coffee sold we will donate $1 per pound to the USO to meet the on going needs of our U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq."

Support your troops and buy your Patriot Blend coffee today!


Patriot Blend in the news:
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