Military Flies Flag in Honor of Caffe Amouri

As a show of appreciation for Caffe Amouri's gift of coffee and a grinder, U.S. Marine Troops from the 1st Maintenance Battalion flew an American Flag over Camp Leatherneck in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan in honor the Vienna business July 14.

Michael Amouri, who owns the 2-year-old cafe, said in a statement his business sent the care package in an effort to send "just a little bit of home to our boys and girls who are in harms way and, I would imagine, could certainly use something … even something small like a good cup of coffee."

By coincidence, the troops flew the flag in honor of Caffe Amouri on its two-year anniversary. 

Amouri has put the flag, along with a picture of the troops drinking the coffee and a certificate, on display in the cafe. 

The gift to the troops is just one of several acts of kindness from the Church Street cafe, which is dedicated to philanthropy and its community as a part of its mission.

"And that community extends beyond our town, our county….even our country," Amouri said. "We support Robbie Schafer's One Voice foundation which is teaching children around the world about diversity and understanding, as well as building schools in impoverished locales, and we serve up coffee to our troops in Afghanistan."

This summer, Amouri set up a free coffee stand outside the shop's doors during the aftermath of the June 29 derecho, which left hundreds of thousands of Virginians without power for days.

Using a camp stove, Amouri and his staff hand-ground the coffee beans and then started carting clean, boiled water from his house nearby.

[W]e are constantly supporting local causes and groups," Amouri said. "These things are important; I feel that all businesses should give back when they can."

Get daily and breaking news email updates from Vienna Patch by signing up for newsletters here. Or follow Vienna Patch on Twitter and Facebook.