‘Vanguard’ unit ministry team receives coffee donation from nonprofit

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Katzenberger | Staff Sgt. Andre L. Gambrell hands boxes of coffee to Pfc. Betty L. Rayne and Spc. Christopher P. McKeithen, to load them in a CONEX container, March 1, on Fort Stewart, Ga. The chaplain assistants, with 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, unloaded 3,220 pounds of coffee, tea and hot chocolate donated by Holy Joe’s Café, a nonprofit organization, to the ‘Vanguard’ brigade to be used for soldier ministry by chaplains and their assistants across the installation.  

FORT STEWART, GA, UNITED STATES

03.02.2012

Story by Sgt. Mary Katzenberger 

4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

FORT STEWART, Ga. – Coffee, for many soldiers, is like flowers for bees.

Maj. David K. Trogdon, chaplain for 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, will soon put this long-standing theory to work across Fort Stewart, Ga., thanks to a 3,220-pound donation of the caffeinated beverage—as well as coffee makers, tea and hot chocolate—from Holy Joe’s Café, a nonprofit organization that sends coffee to troops both stateside and abroad.

The beverages, which were delivered March 1, are slated to be brewed in the 4th IBCT headquarters building in a common area beginning this month, Trogdon said.

“We’ll have a chaplain or an assistant there at all times,” Trogdon said. “One of the most important things we do as chaplains and assistants is what we call ministry of presence—that’s just being around soldiers. [This] way soldiers can come by and get free coffee and talk to a chaplain or an assistant.”

Trogdon said the coffee will also be shared with unit ministry teams across the installation so they, too, can provide their own blend of caffeinated ministry to their soldiers.

The chaplain said this is not the first time he has been touched by the generosity of people across the country who donate to Holy Joe’s Café, or by the nonprofit for turning those donations into a tangible gift consumed almost universally by soldiers.

Trogdon said he worked with the nonprofit during his last tour in Iraq and has maintained the relationship.

“We like to know that people care,” Trogdon said. “The fact that people from all over the country support us by donating coffee is a blessing.”

• Date Taken: 03.02.2012
• Date Posted: 03.07.2012 10:08
• Story ID: 84864
• Location: FORT STEWART, GA, US