A Taste of Home to some...

I had an unexpected response from one of our customers that I felt should be shared, a response that in fact choked me up a bit.

A bit of background- my son Matthew is a First Lieutenant in the US Army serving at Fort Lewis, Washington- he is a Blackhawk helicopter pilot. One of his friends both through school and military training was fortunate enough to also get stationed at Fort Lewis- his name is First Lieutenant Lawson Bartlett, he also flies Blackhawks. Both are scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan on March 26 for at least 9 months.

When Matthew was home for Christmas he purchased a gift pack of spices for Lawson. Lawson's wife Jess has since ordered more spices from my store- Mustard Seed Spice Company.

Last week I received the following email from Lawson-
Mr. Brown,
Having grown up in the south I have developed a sweet tooth for southern BBQ and moving up to the pacific north west has left a culinary hole in my life.  Matt has turned us on to your spices and it has been awesome.  I have been using your spices to bring a taste of home to a location that would otherwise be impossible to get.  I have used your spices for an entire range of BBQ dishes and I have yet to be anything less than blown away by the flavor and quality of your product.  Plan on many future purchases from the Bartlett family and thanks for the great product. 
Thanks,
Lawson

Let me assure you it never occurred to me that I would be providing a 'taste of home' to a displaced Army soldier- a side benefit that makes me feel this definitely is more than just a business.

The sentiment Lawson provided has got me thinking that what I'm doing is more than just business and because of that I inspire to give something back. In honor of Matt and Lawson and all of the other deployed or soon to be deployed service men and women we will be donating 1% of our total sales to the Wounded Warrior Project for the remainder of 2014.

My thoughts and prayers are for all those who serve and especially for the family and friends I have serving- return SAFE guys!