HAPPY CUP...new, remarkable coffee roast in Portland

You're thinking, "Why would an old lady blogger be touting a new coffee roast?"  Tea, maybe, but...

And I'm answering, "HAPPY CUP is special."  

It's the latest idea from our daughter's FULL LIFE, now in its 12th year providing s a employment opportunities and a range of creative activities for people with disabilities. 

Midspring Rachel Bloom, CEO of Full Life, had an urge to  start a Flower Farm.  Before we knew it, some lovely person in the community near her business offered an odd lot--one that would not work for other development.

Full Life Flower Farm sprung into being.  Provided joyful work and outdoor space for her clients.  And  glorious blossoms.  Around the same time, HAPPY CUP was perking around in the development stage.

Rachel talks about the flowers and the coffee on this video from the website.

 

Full Life from Lifted Visuals on Vimeo.

More details on this local, sustainable business (we are in Portland, Oregon, where sustainability is the most-often repeated word) in a recent Business Journal article.

Today, an email with the latest from Scott, Rachel's spouse, very involved with Happy Cup:

As a social enterprise- Happy Cup will donate 100% of net profits to organizations that create programming for individuals with disabilities.

  Of course, we're very proud and drinking delicious coffee.  Happy Cup can be ordered online in Dark Roast, Full Potential (Expresso), Papua New Guinea, and El Salvador--even has its own cup and tee-shirt.  Just in time for the holidays there's also a Gift Box.

Happy Cup is a socially conscious product in providing excellent ethically traded coffee that is also roasted, packaged and delivered by individuals with disabilities.   Full Life has found another way to create jobs for underserved members of our community.  Government funding for programs like Full Life are being slashed in the Oregon state budget.  Full Life Flower Farm and Happy Cup underwite the lost funding for programs that provide a more meaningful life for "people with potential."

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There are those who believe that Ron and I have many irons in the proverbial fire--knit, spin, weave, etcetera.  We are in awe that both our children have taken the model so much further. 

Last week our son, Nick Bloom, remembered to tell us, in a kind of offhand way during a Skype visit, about his latest book, American Tourism:  Constructing a National Tradition. 

This one, co-edited with  J. Mark Souther of the Center for Public History at Cleveland State University, features 35 illustrated articles from a  group of public historians, travel writers about places transformed into tourist destinations.