Military Appreciation Day
at the Sutton Ridge Farm
Rick’s is all about community, connections, and a great cup of coffee!
Customers will have the opportunity to directly impact the lives of local Veterans and their families through their purchases at Rick’s Coffee Bar. Proceeds will help support the Veteran Internship, housed at the coffee bar, as well as the mission of ETS.
Rick’s Coffee Bar was named to honor the memory of Rick Gustafson, a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force. Rick served his country with everything he had and ultimately took his own life due to the emotional and mental wounds incurred in service. The loss of hope is something that can be experienced by both Veterans and non-Veterans alike, which is why we believe community is so important.
Community can be one of the most important parts of recovery for Veterans. Community not only with their friends and family, but just as importantly, with other Veterans. Rick's Place, as it was originally named, was created in 2017 to give Veterans in Minneapolis a place to come together and share their experiences and to feel the camaraderie that can sometimes be missing when a soldier returns home. What began as a donation-based coffee shop for Veterans, has now evolved into a full-service coffee shop open to the public. Rick’s Coffee Bar officially opened the summer of 2022 and is only a few blocks from the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.
HOW IT STARTED
Faith stands at the cornerstone of everything done at ETS and will always be our bedrock. Modern medicine can treat the physical injuries a Veteran sustains in service, psychiatry can assist with the emotional difficulties, such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety, but we believe that the wounds to the soul, which many Veterans struggle with, cannot be healed without divine intervention and a belief that we are all here for a purpose.
The Marrier family's dedication has had an immeasurable impact on our capacity to support Veterans in the Twin Cities. What's even more remarkable is that we've forged genuine friendships, enhancing our effectiveness in serving others.
ETS will forever be grateful to the Marrier family for their generosity and the unwavering energy they infuse into everything they undertake. We eagerly anticipate many more years of collaboration as we persist in aiding Veterans who have faced challenges following their service, spanning employment, finances, relationships, health, and faith.
In 2009, as our founders Tom and Jessi were concluding a quilt pick-up at a small Wisconsin church and preparing to return to the Twin Cities, a serendipitous conversation sparked an unexpected mission. The topic of homeless Veterans emerged almost casually. Deb Marrier, a woman at the church, was moved to ask about the mention of "homeless Veterans,". Tom confirmed the conversation and explained their practice of acquiring supplies on a modest scale and personally distributing them to homeless Veterans in the Twin Cities. Deb disclosed that she, along with her husband Scott and their family, had been contemplating how to contribute to this specific issue for the past month.
They were eager to take tangible steps to assist Veterans who found shelter in cars, under bridges, in the woods, or anywhere safe, warm, and dry. Little did we know, this was the birth of Every Third Saturday (ETS).