This comment came in to John Mackey's CEO blog opens in a new tab this week and I thought it was worth sharing here -- cool story about Mr. Moore's coffee company and what they are doing (story starts in the 3rd paragraph).
“Dear Mr. Mackey - I love your passion for life and your refreshing ability to express yourself so well in the media - both in speeches and in this blog. It so cool in this society to see a leader such as yourself to express his views on love and life but more importantly your gracious views of and respect for your parents is so critical in this society. We need more people to express their values and to not be afraid to express them even when they may not be so well received in this culture. Thanks again for your two wonderful speeches and your love of life and love and parents.”
“I love how Whole Foods mirrors you and your beliefs but most of all I respect your views on the Conscious Capitalism: Creating a New Paradigm for Business. It's so easy for people to express your views but the real story is those who act on and live out their views. Whole Foods is such a model of this. Your Whole Planet Foundation and the wonderful things it does in Central America are amazing and is a story in itself and I invite everyone to learn more about how John and company are living his beliefs by helping single moms in Latin America. I own and started a coffee company 2 years ago to help local homeless children in Atlanta and orphans around the world. For the past 2 years my business has grown through both on line orders and through the sale at churches around Atlanta Georgia. I recently approached Whole Foods Market - Southeastern Corporate Office about selling my coffee in the local stores. The easy answer would have been no - I don’t have any brand recognition and you already have so many great coffee vendors. However I was pleasantly surprised to get the response: you are a small local vendor and we like to support the small guys; and you are helping our community with your projects and we are an active member in helping our community so we would like to partner with you. I can proudly say I received my purchase orders this past week and my organic coffee will be on display this week at the 7 Whole Foods Markets in Atlanta. Doug Alvarez and John Simrell have been tremendous at helping me set this up and very supportive in believing in my vision to help homeless children. All the proceeds from the sales will go to a Family Crisis Center in Atlanta - where moms and children are left homeless due to spousal abuse. So your customers get to try a great new organic coffee while we get to help hundreds of homeless children. Doug and team are helping me setting up samplings and marketing so people will try a coffee that no one knows about - because as he says we at Whole Foods are all about community. Thank you. But it gets better. While we were going through setting up the paperwork and them teaching me about Whole Foods, John Simrell told his financial team about our new partnership. Well your employees on their own had a quick on the spot “lets help” campaign. Your employees brought in hundreds of clothes, books, shoes and toys for the Family Crisis Center - so much I have carried 2 large truckloads so far. We haven’t sold the first bag of coffee yet but WE are already making a difference. So many companies talk the game of helping community but its been truly amazing to see the Whole Foods culture and spirit at work. I recognize the risks your SE Office is taking in giving me, an unknown, some shelf space but its so refreshing to see a company do what they preach. Again thanks for your new “Conscious Capitalism: Creating a New Paradigm for Business” - its very alive in Atlanta Georgia. Your beliefs are refreshing - but its such a wow to see them in action. Here's to you and all the homeless kids we will help in Atlanta Georgia because of your love for life. Sincerely, Boake Moore Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee “The Coffee Helping Children””
