As a student at Grove City College, I am constantly being bombarded by hundreds of posters advertising anything from a weekend mission trip to a glow in the dark capture the flag competition. Student-led activities line the walls of every academic building on campus, there is always something to do.
That being said, Monday was a typical day for me as I took my usual bathroom break between classes. I didn’t even take in all the posters I passed along the way. Something slowed me down – An interesting poster taped onto the bathroom door. Two words caught my eye, “Uganda” and “clean water”. I thought that sounded funny. Sounds exactly like Ugandan Gold Coffee. The poster was, unfortunately, rather scant on information. I could piece together there was a student missionary group called Project Okello hosting a coffee house Saturday in the student union. Coffee and clean water. Hm, I think I know someone who is an expert in that. Extremely curious, I emailed their president and was invited to t
heir weekly meeting the following night.
After speaking wit
h the president and a few other students organizing the event, I was able to get Ugandan Gold Coffee a table as a vendor for a small price of 10% of whatever we were able to sell. Taking an hour out of my evening to listen to Project Okello’s story was really eye-opening. The organization itself is a sponsor for a well digging initiative in Uganda called Wells for Hope. Project Okello does two events during the year, one being this coffee house and the other in the winter selling Ugandan Gold Coffee (small world, right?). The coffee house, with the help of vend
ors, takes donations from students to fund Wells for Hope. They were more than happy to offer us a vendor table because they know our product is good (selling it in the winter helps) and we are all working for the same thing – clean water.
Needless to say, getting ready for this event in 4 days was no easy task – my nerves were a little jittery. Thank
fully, the Lord was on our side and preparation went flawlessly. Two board members, Jim and Graham, joined JP and me Saturday afternoon from 2:30-9pm in Grove City College’s student union to spread the word about Ugandan Gold Coffee. We had a beautiful table (check out the photos!) and two Keurigs running hard to hand out samples. I had to make some adjustments for cups, as you can see they are just Styrofoam cups with our website written in Sharpie. Hey, it worked!
The students received free samples in the form of brewed coffee and packets
of roasted coffee to brew for themselves 
later on. All coffee we handed out was our absolute best – Sipi Falls. This event even allowed us to speak to students about the impact the coffee would bring to the people of Uganda and make them aware of how their favorite drink can make a difference.
Overall, we sold around ten bags (about $100) on the spot – but that was not the ultimate goal. Ugandan Gold Coffee had the chance to get our name out there so when Project Okello comes back in the winter to sell coffee, students will already know what it is and what it tastes like.
The coffee house could not have gone better and I am so glad Project Okello was kind enough to have us there. I cannot wait until next year when we can do it all over again 🙂
-Lindy B.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25
