National Coffee Day is on Sept. 29, and coffee-lovers and dog-lovers alike can celebrate, while also helping out some pups, with Grounds & Hounds coffee.
Grounds & Hounds Coffee Co. is a California-based company with a mission to donate a portion of their profits made from coffee, drinkware, home and living, and apparel to support animal rescue organizations. The company partnered with the Pittsburgh-based organization No Dog Left Behind for a fundraiser focused on G&H's Rescue Roast blend. From now through Sept. 30, 100% of Rescue Roast sales will go to the organization to help their cause.
Jordan Karcher, the founder of Grounds & Hounds and a Pittsburgh native, has always had a love for all animals, but a special soft spot for dogs especially.
“I grew up with a Dalmatian who I got when I was two, and she lived until I left for college, so she was like 16 and a half when she passed away, and she was kind of like my sister growing up,” Karcher said. “We’ve always had gerbils, hermit crabs, fish, lizards, and snakes growing up. You name it, I've probably had the pet.”
Karcher currently has two dogs—Molly, a Dalmation-mix who inspired Karcher to start G&H, and Jasmine, a pitbull he just adopted this summer.
Karcher adopted Molly when he was 24 years old. He attended a pop-up adoption event to play with some dogs not intending to walk away with a new friend, but when Molly plopped into his lap, and when he heard her story, his life changed.
“She was potentially a bait dog, and they found her just kind of walking around the streets of Inland Empire California in San Dimas, and then she ended up in the LA shelter in which she was on the euthanasia list before she was pulled,” he said. “This amazing creature who makes me so happy and makes everyone happy, and she makes the world better, and she was so close to not being here.”
From there, Karcher did some volunteering and research and found out about animal overpopulation, and that, as of 2012, roughly 2.1 million dogs were euthanized every year. He wanted to find a way to help.
Karcher has always been a coffee fan. He originally worked in wine and spirits while dabbling in coffee as a hobby.
“I was trying to come up with the concept for the company, and trying to create a way to benefit animal rescues, and I would always wake up in the morning, have a cup of coffee while walking with my dog,” he said. “Then it kind of hit me. If I do that, how many people do this exact thing every day, who love dogs and love early mornings with a cup of coffee? That was kind of the gist of how we would bring the two things together to make a really impactful business.”
The company was started in 2013, and they sold their first bag of coffee in spring 2014.
Since then, G&H has used their Rescue Roast coffee to collaborate with organizations they believe are doing unique work that makes a difference.
No Dog Left Behind, which G&H partnered with for the month of September, is an organization in which volunteers help transport animals from overcrowded shelters to other shelters with more space and resources to properly take care of them, potentially saving them from being euthanized. Euthanizing animals is less costly for shelters than transporting them to a different shelter, so No Dog Left Behind does the transporting for them.
“We love their mission,” Karcher said. “We love the team and the passion they have for making a difference.”
The Rescue Roast, as well as products on the rest of the site, will be 20% off starting Sept. 26 until Sept. 30.
Grounds & Hounds Coffee Co. runs fundraiser for Pittsburgh-based organization No Dog Left Behind
