What do the following have in common:  a telephone answering machine, a Macbook with Gmail on it, misellaneous belongings moving into a new apartment, an unexpected hospital stay, digital photos to be uploaded to a computer, a health insurance dilemma and a new Vining resident?  They are situations I have encountered as the new Senior Advocate during the first two months of our innovative staff configuration.  However, this is exactly what we wanted to happen, my being available and present when help or contact is needed by our members.  So, as we continue this “get-acquainted” process, please keep my information handy and feel free to contact me for any assistance.

No Strings Attached

FREE COMPUTER HELP
Mainly Macintosh (Apple)
but also
Windows (PCs)

Warren Turner, Senior Advocate
603-252-0099

Most of you have seen me after church with a thermal coffee mug in my hand and know that I am definitely a fan of the Bean! So, it was very lucky for me to connect with the United Church of Christ Coffee Project a few years back for a trip to Chiapas, Mexico and see for myself where the Equal Exchange Cooperative gets its coffee. While there we spent a couple of nights in a tiny village that was still rebuilding from government suppression during the Zapatista rebellion ten years previously. With our farmer hosts we hiked up the side of the mountain to help pick the shade-grown beans which filled huge burlap bags.(Some of us tried to carry them but only made it a few dozen feet where we had to turn them over to small farmer-teens who threw them over their shoulders and ran on down the hill with no effort at all) We also visited the larger town nearby to see the warehouse and the cooperative offices where the farmers join to market their high quality, organic coffee through Equal Exchange, a true force for justice. 

It was quite an experience and when I returned to CCDC we made that coffee the official after church fellowship brew. We also began to sell Equal Exchange coffee by the bag at wholesale prices every third Sunday of the month. While there is a large variety of flavors and strengths, all of it tastes great.  More importantly, by purchasing this product we help keep the small farmers on their land. In addition, the United Church of Christ receives a percentage of each sale and last year $11,000 went to a coffee producers coop in Kona, Hawaii. So, let’s don’t forget that buying Equal Exchange products, either for our own use or as gifts, is a small but important way for us to help small farmers throughout the world.