Vote


I want your vote. I am not running for city council, the state assembly, the board of supes or any other public office. But I am campaigning for votes—votes in our 2005 Best of Alameda readers’ choice poll.
    The ballot is nestled in this issue, amid the pages of the “Alameda Lovefest” article on page 62. That story is designed to warm you up: We tell you 25 things we love about Alameda, and then it’s your turn—you get to set us straight by filling out your ballot. So breeze through “Lovefest” and flip to the ballot. Cogitate a bit and mark your ballot, and then mail it back to us.
    Look for the “Best of” results in the September/October 2005 issue. (And don’t forget to turn over the ballot so you can also vote on the back in our poll on Alameda’s Best in Food & Drink. Those results will be published in the November 2005 issue.)
    Once that ballot business is behind you, settle in for a nice read about an Alamedan, Pete Rogers, who’s determined to improve the world—one sip at a time. He’s vice president of JBR Gourmet Foods, a $33 million-a-year coffee, tea and beer business, and freelance writer Keith Gleason follows Rogers to the San Leandro coffee roastery, tags along with him on the sidelines of the soccer field and visits with Rogers and family at their Bay Farm home.
    Gleason’s profile on Rogers touches on the dangers of doing business in Central and South America, the pleasures of life in Alameda and Rogers’ compunction for doing the right thing. JBR has been a socially responsible company employing fair-trade practices for almost 20 years, long before the notion was even a concept, largely because of Rogers’ abhorrence of seeing how coffee growers were treated.
    Today, JBR—under Rogers’ oversight—donates $250,000 annually through its Source Aid program to improve housing, education and health care for its coffee farmers. Additionally, the Rogers Charitable Fund is newer nonprofit organization formed to involve for-profits in Source Aid projects. Rogers, naturally, is involved in his community of Alameda, where he coaches his children’s soccer and baseball teams, lavishly rewarding all players for their hard work. No doubt his teams learn a great deal from Rogers, who has this to say about giving:
    “The most important lesson I’ve learned is how to give. A lot of companies will give a little bit of money to a problem—throw money at it. It really doesn’t work. You have to get involved. If you don’t, it’s not going to change.”



                            Until next issue,
                                        
                       
                            Judith M. Gallman
                            judy@alamedamagazine.com