Tully’s Coffee® Announces Northport, Ala. Resident as Winner of $100,000 Taste of Community Improvement Project Grant

Tully’s Coffee®, a brand of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR), announces Kimberly Conway, of Northport, Ala. as the winner of the 2011 "Taste of Community” contest. Conway is being awarded a service grant funded by Tully’s, valued at up to $100,000, to build a neighborhood gathering place in Tuscaloosa County, an area devastated by tornadoes earlier this year. The contest and community improvement project are part of a collaboration between Tully’s Coffee and Pomegranate Center, a non-profit dedicated to creating neighborhood gathering places.

For her Taste of Community contest entry, Conway recalled the massive destruction of the tornadoes that hit her hometown in April 2011. She asked for the chance to improve her community by giving people a safe, accessible, clean place to gather – something that, after the tornadoes, doesn’t exist. Conway, an artist and community activist, has lived in the Tuscaloosa area for the past five years and worked as an art teacher at the Alberta Elementary School in Alberta, Ala. before it was razed by the storms. Her contest entry reflected a deep love for and connection to her community and incorporated a unique, artful design. Her proposed site plan features greenery and local art and includes areas for both recreation and relaxation.

In the coming months, Tully’s and Pomegranate Center will work with Conway, the Tuscaloosa County community and local officials to determine where a community gathering space is most needed and what type of space will have the greatest impact. The project build will be completed in 2012 and will seek to engage the community at large throughout the process from design stage to completion.

"Through the Taste of Community program we seek to engage people on the importance of community space revitalization. We are thrilled to award Kimberly and Tuscaloosa County this grant as a way to help their much deserving community,” said Karen Yacos, Director of Domestic Community Outreach, GMCR. "We are excited to work with the community to create a gathering space that can help bring people together to heal and make lasting community connections.”

In addition to the grant funding, residents will receive training, community engagement expertise, designs, and building management from Pomegranate Center. To pay tribute to the community, the new Tuscaloosa County gathering space build will utilize local talent and energy and be uniquely hand-crafted with local materials and art – including materials such as bricks and wood that Conway recovered and saved after the storms.

"This community space will be a symbol of a fresh start for Tuscaloosa; a place to rest and lift spirits as we endure the rebuilding process but also to serve as a marker of how the community came together to pull through,” said Conway, a Northport, Ala. resident and winner of the Taste of Community contest. "I can’t wait to work with Tully’s and Pomegranate Center to create a place that brings our community together. It brings joy to my heart knowing there is a possibility I could help these people reassemble their lives even a little after this horrible devastation.”

Earlier this year, Tully’s joined forces with Pomegranate Center to launch the "Taste of Community” program, a multi-faceted, philanthropic effort to incite communities across the country to revitalize gathering places where people can meet, linger, chat, and celebrate. As part of this national program, the Taste of Community contest called on entrants to share a short essay and photo about what makes their community special and how a gathering place would help transform their neighborhood.

Conway’s gathering space project was chosen from a national pool of more than 500 entrants. A judging panel, composed of representatives from Tully’s and Pomegranate Center and thought leaders in the space, selected Conway as one of ten finalists interviewed about their proposed community project before the final decision was made. The judging panel included:

• Heather Boyer, Senior Editor, Built Environment, for Island Press and co-author of Resilient Cities;
• Victor Deupi, Architectural Designer, Teacher, and Writer;
• Scott Kratz, Vice President for Education at The National Building Museum;
• Milenko Matanovic, Executive Director for Pomegranate Center;
• Karen Yacos, Director of Domestic Community Outreach for GMCR; And,
• Jess Zimbabwe, Executive Director for the Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use, The Urban Land Institute.

Each entry was reviewed based on creativity and originality, the benefit to entire neighborhood, and the local need for a new community gathering place.

All contest finalists received a Keurig^® Brewer and supply of Tully’s K-Cup^® portion packs. In addition, Tully’s gave all Taste of Community contest entrants two free bags of coffee, including a bag of Tully’s Community Spaces Blend, a limited edition offering in honor of the Taste of Community program.

To learn more about the winning Taste of Community project, get news and updates about the build, or for more information about the 2011 Taste of Community program, visit the Tully’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/TullysCoffee). Additional information can also be found by visiting Tullys.com and PomegranateCenter.org.

About Tully’s Coffee

Tully’s Coffee^® is part of the family of brands within the Specialty Coffee business unit of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. Established in Seattle, Wash., Tully’s is known and valued for its slow roasting approach, and rich, full coffee flavor. Tully’s^® coffees are available in bags and K-Cup^® portion packs for the Keurig^® Single-Cup Brewing System in supermarkets and specialty stores on the West Coast and nationwide. For more information, please visit www.Tullys.com.

About Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR)

As a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is recognized for its award-winning coffees, innovative brewing technology, and socially responsible business practices. GMCR supports local and global communities by offsetting 100% of its direct greenhouse gas emissions, investing in sustainably-grown coffee, and allocating at least five percent of its pre-tax profits to socially and environmentally responsible initiatives.

GMCR routinely posts information that may be of importance to investors in the Investor Relations section of its website, including news releases and its complete financial statements, as filed with the SEC. The Company encourages investors to consult this section of its website regularly for important information and news. Additionally, by subscribing to the Company’s automatic email news release delivery, individuals can receive news directly from GMCR as it is released.

About Pomegranate Center

Pomegranate Center brings people together to build better communities. It is an internationally recognized leader in creating neighborhood gathering places and is an award-winning nonprofit devoted to community-generated design and development. Founded 25 years ago by artist and community organizer Milenko Matanovic, today Pomegranate Center builds places, communities and leaders throughout Pacific Northwest and across the country. Pomegranate Center works with communities of all sizes to help prepare for the future. For more information, please visit www.pomegranatecenter.org.

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