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Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe is a disabled-veteran owned small business. Where possible, throughout the year we support local organizations in the areas where we have shoppes.
There are two organizations that we place special emphasis on supporting. We think you will agree that these two organizations are truly special.
Kermit's also supported an advisory team in Camp Ur, Iraq. Their mission has been completed. They did great work under tough conditions. As a reminder, their story - and a final note from MSgt Douglas Webster, USMC, is at the bottom of this page.
Monroe Association for Retarded Citizens, Inc.
www.marchouse.org
The Monroe Association for Retarded Citizens (MARC) is a non-profit agency that serves adult clients within Monroe County who have developmental disabilities. Key West is located in Monroe County, Florida.
Kermit has supported MARC -- whose facilities and services are collectively referred to as Marchouse -- in Key West since our founding. The organization does wonderful work for their clients. Some of their services include keeping the area in the vicinity of our shoppe neat and clean.
With the expansion of Kermit’s store in Key West, we added coffee and smoothies to our customer offering. The added service produced a potential problem too. Tourists in Key West have a tendency to tip for even routine service. We pay good wages and wanted our customer service to be the best, with no tip anticipated or expected. When employees compete for tips, the habit of tipping frequently works against the effective working of the business. We wanted our staff to be concerned with what needed to be accomplished and not with what would get them a tip.
The solution was to put Marchouse on the tip jar. We provide 90% of the tips to Marchouse and use 10% for an occasional staff lunch or dinner. In the first seven months the Key West Shoppe collected $3,000 for Marchouse.
Since the initial donation, tips have allowed Kermit to donate a $2,500 motor scooter, which was on the Marchouse wish list. In August of 2007, a $4,000 donation was made to the MARC capital campaign. In 2008, an additional $5,000 donation was made. The tips add up quickly and are just as quickly being put to good use for the community.
Association for Retarded Citizens Volusia, DeLand Training Center
www.arcvolusia.org
The Association for Retarded Citizens (The ARC) serves and advocates for persons with mental retardation in Volusia County, Florida. They run a training center in DeLand, just a few buildings away from our Key Lime production facility. The ARC specializes in assembly; sorting and packing; repetitive tasks; bulk mailing; multi-step assembly; ongoing jobs; on time orders; and rush jobs. They also perform pick-up, delivery, and the shipping of products.
The boxes Kermit’s uses to ship Internet orders are all hand stamped in green ink with the label, “Key Lime Care Package.” The workers in the DeLand Training Center pick up the boxes, stamp them on each side, and deliver the boxes back to our warehouse.
Customers of Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe expect the best - - the best products, the best service, and the best packaging too. As evidenced by our customer’s favorable comments, the DeLand Training Center does an outstanding job.
CMATT- Base Support, Camp Ur, Iraq
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Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2007 3:12 PM
Subject: follow-up
It's been quite a long time since I last e-mailed. My advisor team has long since disbanded and gone off to other duties.
The generosity and tremendous support from Kermit's was incredible. On behalf of the 17 members of Camp Ur,Thank You and Semper Fidelis.
MSgt. Douglas L. Webster USMC
Note: In his civilian career, MSgt Webster is a Deputy Sheriff in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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This joint service military organization is stationed in Camp Ur, Iraq. It is a bare base - - no post or base exchange and no mess hall. The chow consists of Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) - - breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a plastic bag with a ten-year shelf life.
MREs will keep a service member alive and can be quite good, if you have one every now and then. However, as a steady diet, MREs can be tough.
Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe was contacted in mid-January 2006 by Master Sergeant (MSgt) Douglas Webster, USMC, who is back in Iraq on his second tour. He is part of a small joint service team, known as a CMATT Base Support Unit.
MSgt Webster wrote us that their Commanding Officer was from Florida and said, “Anything Key Lime is the Best!” He asked for our help. Little did he know, but he hit a soft spot. Veterans go out of their way to help active service members - - and this time we just happened to have some great Key Lime products.
So far, we have sent three “Key Lime Care Packages” with Key Lime juice, Key Lime barbeque sauce, Key Lime candy, and our Key Lime Mango Poppy Dressing. Field reports say that the sauces really perk up a MRE.
In fact, MSgt Webster has managed to horse trade with another base camp, which he describes as one combat convoy (also known as a combat mission) away. The result was some chicken for a barbeque.
The ability to barbeque some chicken may not sound like much back here in the US, but in a combat zone, a simple barbeque can be “heaven sent.” So, in addition to the occasional chicken to barbeque, when the next package with Key Lime Mango Poppy Dressing arrives, the team will have something to go with the local bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers - - and a real cause for celebration.
The team has kindly supplied a photo and promises more when they have an opportunity. We will post the photos as they are received.
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