Quarter One Donation

Thank you to everyone who has purchased tea! We are happy to share with you that ten percent of sales from our first quarter went toward a deserving refugee family who recently resettled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bethany Christian Services, the resettlement agency we coordinated with, matched us with a family in immediate need of home goods for their new apartment. Unfortunately, we cannot release the names or pictures of the refugees due to the security of their situation, but we can relay that they were exceedingly grateful for the goods. Some of the items included were pillows, towels, soaps, silverware, dishware, baskets, cleaning supplies, notepads, pens, a DVD player and Nutella. The DVD player will be used to play educational English language learning DVDs and the Nutella was specifically requested by the refugees as they had taken a liking to it in their travels. We had the pleasure of visiting with them in their new apartment and, with the help of a translator, we learned about their journey and thoughts about living in a new place. They are thankful to be here even though some family members had to be left behind and are still in waiting at the refugee camp. Their first week has been difficult as they adjust to their new surroundings and work around the language barrier, but they seemed comfortable in their new apartment. We were happy to see them using the items you had given and enjoyed discussing our mutual love for tea. They were very hospitable (and quite comical!) when sharing stories about their struggles with the language barrier. We also discussed how winter and summer in Michigan compare, since this winter will be their first time seeing snow. It was a pleasure hearing their stories and we feel encouraged and even more motivated to keep moving forward. Thank you for providing us the opportunity to meet these refugees. Please keep spreading the word and following RefuTea. Our mission is support refugee efforts and needs by serving delicious blends of loose leaf tea and none of this would be possible without the support of every bag of tea you have purchased! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!