The Bigelow Tea Company is now an official sponsor of the United Service Organizations (USO) a non-profit that supports members and families of the U.S. military worldwide. The family-owned company will donate 350,000 tea bags annually to benefit the USO’s ongoing mission of lifting the spirits of America’s troops and their families.
This commitment ensures the continuation of Bigelow’s Tea for the Troops program, launched in 2009 by Cindi Bigelow, third generation president and CEO. Bigelow has donated more than 4 million tea bags since she reached out to high school friend Jeff Hill, now the USO’s Regional VP for the U.S., to develop a path for distributing 100% American grown tea to troops as a heartfelt way of saying “thank you” for their sacrifices. The tea is grown and processed at the company’s Charleston Tea Plantation in South Carolina. Bigelow Tea is also a financial sponsor of the USO’s 2015 Warrior Week that recently took place in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in association with the USO of Hampton Roads and Central Virginia Inc. This program brings together physical, therapeutic and recreational organizations that provide veterans with opportunities to participate in activities from adaptive water skiing, kayaking, deep sea fishing, horseback riding, surfing, racquetball and tennis. As in years past, Cindi Bigelow and Bigelow Tea Project Manager Tim Richmond, an Iraq war veteran, cycled alongside service men and women in Warrior Week’s Ride 2 Recovery Memorial Challenge. “It is such a moving experience and honor to ride along with our veterans. We read about them, we see them on TV and in airports. Of course we appreciate what they do but to be surrounded by them gives me a greater appreciation for their sacrifices,” said Bigelow. Learn more at www.bigelowtea.com