Specialty Coffee Retailer

Specialty Coffee Retailer February 2014

Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.

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14 | February 2014 • www.specialty-coffee.com D an Dewey never worked in the coee industry. He grew up in the small town of Gingellville, Michigan, a remote town located 35 miles north of Detroit. He has lived there all his life. In 2006 when his father was battling cancer, Dan went along to his dad's chemotherapy treatments at Pontiac's St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital. While waiting, he decided to go out to Starbucks for a coee and asked the other patients in the room if they wanted anything. at tradition of buying coee for strangers has continued for seven years and has taken Dan to places he never imagined, including Howard Schultz's oce and the residence of Vice President Joe Biden. Dan spoke with CoeeBreak about his weekly coee runs, and how his random act of kindness has inspired the generous support of many others. SCR: What were you doing prior to starting these coee runs? Dewey: I graduated from high school back in 1964. I decided then that I didn't want to be a farmer, which is traditional in my family, and I didn't want to be like everyone else. I chose to travel a little bit each year, and go to school a little bit each year. I graduated college in 1994: it only took me 30 years! I've also had more than 60 full-time jobs in my life, and I've run 70 marathons. e one thing that's been consistent in my life is that I've never had any money! I live a very simple lifestyle. I'll be 68 years old next summer, and these days I get by with my Social Security checks, which amount to almost as much money as I made when I was working. So it worked out for me in the end. SCR: What inspired you to start and continue these amazing coee runs for cancer patients? Dewey: Twelve years ago, my father was diagnosed with cancer when he was 80 years old. He did the chemo, and it cured him. en ve years later, he got a dierent kind of cancer. I was with him at the hospital on a Wednesday morning, and I asked him if he needed anything. In typical dad fashion, he said, "No, I've got everything I need." And I said, "Well, I need a coee!" I stood up to go to the nearby Starbucks. en I saw all the other people who were sitting in the room, D C M ' BY M E L I SSA N I K SI C D' - . 14-16 coffee break SCR0214.indd 14 2/6/2014 12:14:28 PM

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