THE ROGERS FAMILY COMPANY AND OPERATION GRATITUDE LAUNCH NATIONAL “LETTERS TO OUR TROOPS CONTEST” TO MAKE HOLIDAYS BRIGHTER OVERSEAS AND BENEFIT SCHOOLS AT HOME

SAN LEANDRO, CALIF (Nov. 3, 2008) – Kindhearted students and adults across the country are valued pen pals for military personnel isolated in the Middle East. A new contest sponsored by a San Leandro, Calif.-based gourmet coffee roaster – the Rogers Family Company (http://www.rogersfamilyco.com) - in partnership with Operation Gratitude encourages Americans to write letters to our troops for the holidays and at the same time earn fun prizes for themselves and much-needed money for their favorite schools.

“Sometimes, the gesture that touches a Soldier, Marine, Airman or Sailor the most is a simple, heartfelt thank-you,” said Rogers Family Co. President Jon B. Rogers who served as an officer in the U.S. Army. “We hope that the “Letters To Our Troops” contest will provide all Americans a way to show their appreciation for our troops’ sacrifice and help raise money for our schools nationwide.”

The “Letters To Our Troops Contest” is the latest partnership between the Rogers Family Company – whose “Fairly Traded” gourmet coffee and tea products are sold nationwide under various brands - and Operation Gratitude, the non-profit, all-volunteer organization that sends care packages to military personnel in hostile zones throughout the world. The Rogers Family Company has been a longtime supporter of Operation Gratitude and in the last four years has sent 500,000 bags of coffee to overseas troops, including those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This holiday season Operation Gratitude plans to send more than 70,000 care packages to troops deployed overseas and hopes to get enough submissions from the contest to include at least one letter in every box. To meet this goal, Operation Gratitude needs everyone – students, parents, teachers...and all caring American citizens - to write letters.

To enter the contest, participants will go to http://dearhero.opgratitude.com, and click on the “Write a Letter” button. Upon registration and submission of their letter, participants will be entered to win one of three prize packages, which include money for their chosen schools, free coffee gift certificates at the Rogers Gourmet Coffee & Tea Market , and iTunestm gift cards provided by the Rogers Family Company:

• A Grand Prize of $2,000 donated to the elementary or high school of the winner’s choice, a $250 coffee gift certificate (the prize value is based on two pounds of coffee per month for one year) and a $100 iTunestm gift card. The winning letter will be included in Operation Gratitude’s milestone 400,000th care package in December.
• A Second Prize of $1,000 donated to the elementary or high school of the winner’s choice, $50 coffee gift certificate, and a $50 iTunestm gift card.
• A Third Prize of $500 donated to the elementary or high school of winner’s choice, $25 coffee gift certificate, and a $15 iTunestm gift card.

The contest, designed and hosted by Strutta Media Inc., is open to all U.S. residents and runs through December 12, 2008. All appropriate letters submitted in the contest will be sent to service members via Operation Gratitude care packages.

“We encourage everyone to participate in this unique and rewarding opportunity to thank those men and women in uniform who will not be home with loved ones this Holiday season,” said Carolyn Blashek, Founder of Operation Gratitude. “The faces of our brave service members light up when they receive something that reminds them of life back in the States. We are extraordinarily grateful to the Rogers Family Company for sponsoring this contest—they were one of our original corporate donors and their generosity in providing product, funds and now support through this letter writing contest is unparalleled.”

Rogers said his company’s long-term support of Operation Gratitude is not a political statement but simply a way to ease troops’ daily hardships. “It’s impossible to underestimate the pride a member of our military feels when they receive a letter or an e-mail addressed ‘Dear Hero.’”

ABOUT THE ROGERS FAMILY COMPANY
The Rogers Family Company was founded in 1979 by Princeton University graduate and ex-Revlon executive Jon B. Rogers and his wife Barbara Rogers. The Rogers gambled and took a second mortgage on their home to purchase a tiny bankrupt tea company that they’ve transformed into one the nation’s leading importers and roasters of branded gourmet coffee and tea: The Rogers Family Company (www.rogersfamilyco.com). All four of their adult children play a vital role in the operations of the company that supplies its “Responsibly Grown/ Fairly Traded” gourmet coffee and tea to discriminating customers worldwide through various divisions and brands.

Headquartered in San Leandro, Calif., the company’s divisions and brands include the Organic Coffee Company, San Francisco Bay Premium Gourmet Coffee Co., Fairwinds Gourmet Coffee, Pleasant Hill Farms, Café Jerusalem, AUDUBON Coffee, East India Coffee & Tea Co., the Organic Tea Co. and Black Mountain Gold. With 150 employees, the company makes approximately 3,500 individual coffee and tea products.

OPERATION GRATITUDE
Operation Gratitude (www.operationgratitude.com ) is the California-based 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that annually sends 100,000+ care packages of snacks, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation addressed to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed in hostile regions such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and on military ships at sea. Its mission is to lift morale, bring a smile to a service member's face and express to all troops the appreciation and support of the American people.

For safety and security, all assembling of packages occurs at the Army National Guard armory in Van Nuys, Calif. Since its inception in March 2003, Operation Gratitude has shipped more than 360,000 packages to American troops deployed overseas.
CONTACT: Carolyn Blashek, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Infoline: 818/909.003 (Phone: 818-789-0123 or cell - 818-406-5057

STRUTTA MEDIA, INC.
Strutta is an on-demand contest platform that makes it easy for anyone to create a cost-effective, engaging and interactive promotion to encourage leads and participation with your brand. Whether you are a blogger, advertising agency or the world’s largest packaged goods manufacturer, you can use the Strutta platform to build branded, completely customizable contests or sweepstakes that seamlessly integrate with your existing CSS, API and style guidelines. Strutta also supports user generated content (UGC) contest options including video, photos, audio and text, multiple voting options and judging panels. Strutta is a privately held corporation located in Vancouver, BC http://www.strutta.com/contact
CONTACT: Jordan Behan, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; Phone: 778.785.1147

EDITOR’S NOTE:
For more information, please visit: www.rogersfamilyco.com or call 1/800-829-1300. Media can contact Jim Zelinski/Zelinski Public Relations at (925) 242-0918, 415/420-6050 or email - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .