Joe Van Gogh sources its beans from farmers and farmer cooperatives, paying a fair trade price and, with the Cafe Feminino Project, an additional premium. In 2009, the local coffee roaster was inspired to support a different cause: education about and the rescue of endangered sea turtles.
It began when third-grader Casey Sokolovic visited the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Topsail Beach (http://www.seaturtlehospital.org/). The center works to conserve and protect marine turtles and to educate the public about their endangerment. At any given time, the center has a list of patients; some have encountered fishing hooks or nets, some have ingested plastics or balloons, and some are experiencing “cold stunning,” a condition that occurs when a turtle’s surroundings are too cold, and the turtle’s body temperature drops to match it. The center cares for the turtles and, with luck, releases them back into the ocean.
Casey was so moved by her visit that she founded her own sea turtle awareness program, Help them LAST: Love A Sea Turtle (http://loveaseaturtle.com/). She baked and sold turtle-shaped sugar cookies to raise money. Since then, she’s developed an educational outreach program, a year-round calendar of service learning opportunities, a marine debris awareness and prevention project, and free outdoor summer daycamps with environmental science themes such as tracing the path of fresh water to the coast.
Inspired by Casey’s actions, Joe Van Gogh crafted Sea Turtle Blend. The coffee is smooth and fruity with notes of berry. It’s available in both regular and decaf and is organic, like all Joe Van Gogh coffees. The roaster donates 10% of net profits to the Rehab Center. The coffee is on sale this month (July 2015) for $9.99/lb, $6 off the regular price. You can also try it at the Carrboro coffee bar.
Learn more at http://www.joevangogh.com/seaturtle/.