Green Mountain Coffee Roasters receives Humanitarian Of The Year award

  Medicines for Humanity (MFH) honored Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) with its 2011 Humanitarian of the Year award at a fundraising event on 20 September held at the World Trade Center Seaport Hotel in Boston. MFH is a non-profit international organisation that is dedicated to reducing child mortality in impoverished communities worldwide. “GMCR has established a global footprint of caring, and demonstrated proactive concern for the well being of the neediest children,” said MFH board member Thomas M. O'Neill. “In Rwanda, they seek out these children, and make sure they have life-saving healthcare services. They have shown the world how to use resources wisely to create enduring goodness.” Rick Peyser, GMCR’s Director of Social Advocacy and Coffee Community Outreach, accepted the award on behalf of GMCR. In his acceptance speech,  Peyser noted: “ We have focused on improving the quality of life for coffee farmers and their families at the household level in our coffee-growing communities. We are gratified to have a partner like Medicines for Humanity that wants to work in countries like Rwanda, where the need is the greatest.” GMCR has announced that the company will continue to help fund the MFH child survival projects in the Southern Province of Rwanda for an additional four years. “We are extremely grateful to GMCR for this additional commitment,” stated MFH Executive Director, Tim Bilodeau. “We have a program in place that is reaching the most vulnerable children and effectively reducing child mortality,” Peyser added. “We are delighted to expand our support of MFH’s work in Rwanda, a country that produces very high quality coffee, yet is challenged with one of the highest rates of infant and child mortality in the coffee growing world.” GMCR regularly supports local and global communities by offsetting 100 per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions, investing in sustainably grown coffee, and allocating at least five percent of its pre-tax profits to social and environmental projects.