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1769 Seashell Ln
Waconia, MN, 55387

952-221-0680

Java Relief is a special kind of coffee retailer. We sell high quality coffee that's fresh roasted, on demand. What makes us unique is that we are a volunteer company and 100% of our profits go directly to children at risk. Our hearts have been broken seeing the overwhelming need and sadness of so many of these children. Whether they are orphans, slave or sex-trafficked victims, or simply living in an unsafe and impoverished environment. We feel it is our God-given task to fight for these children — to provide meals, clothing, education and better homes.

Stories

Welcome to the Java Relief stories site where we talk about our passion of helping children at risk worldwide. Wake Up Do Good!

Vacation without Java Relief?  No Way!

Brandy Siewert

Brandy-and-Steve-vacation.jpg

We love a vacation with a purpose.

A couple of weeks ago Steve and I were able to join some friends in San Pedro, Belize. We’ve always loved having our kids, Shale and Jada, with us on winter trips but this time, the first time in almost 20 years, we were “adults only” and we also used it as a celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary (which actually was last May)!

This was a vacation and not a mission trip, but we often approach vacation thinking about opportunities to reach out to the community and get to know the locals, so before we left I connected with a ministry called Hope Haven.  A new shelter for children at risk that was built in an old strip club.  The staff and volunteers at Hope Haven provide a literacy program, individual and group therapy, hot meals and a safe place for neglected and abused children. 

Not really knowing much ahead of time, we signed up - along with our friends, Dan and Becky Neubauer and Nate and Peg Werner to serve a free meal to anyone in the community on Sunday night. 

On Saturday, Steve and I looked at a sample menu and realized we were going to be feeding a lot more people than we first thought and found out we would be buying the groceries.  Hmmm...where do we buy 35 lbs of ground beef?!  Hats off to Becky who was smart enough to ask a waiter! “The butcher of course”, came the answer!  And, an added bonus from asking a Belizian, “The butcher will give you a discount if its for a ministry”.  Perfect!  

 Every "mission" feels like an adventure and this one surely did too as we scoured the small town in search of groceries. After stopping to pick up the ground beef packaged in a garbage bag we stopped at about eight grocery stores to find the rest of the items. As we headed toward Hope Haven in our golf cart full of groceries we rounded a corner and two bulk cans of baked beans rolled out of the golf cart and right next to the wheel of a van behind us!  Good thing there are mostly golf carts on the roads because everyone drives quite slow!

We and our friends quickly got to work forming and grilling hamburgers, making coleslaw, slicing buns and heating beans to get ready for a crowd.  Three hours of prepping and cooking later, moms and children started filing in.  Over the next two hours we served about 120 meals!  It was so much fun and I just love feeling like we’ve worked hard - which we certainly did as it was hot and constantly busy. It is always a blessing to us when we can meet new people, help out and Wake Up Do Good

Written by: Brandy Siewert

P.S. Yes, we packed Java Relief Coffee for our trip!

We were blessed to be able to purchase and serve a meal for 120 moms and children at Hope Haven in San Petro Belize. A shelter for children at risk that was built in an old strip club.