Wisconsin Veterans Museum's Holiday Campaign

We know that many households in our community face food insecurity. This holiday season, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum is offering you the chance to buy help feed your neighbors. You can purchase a Bucket of Bread and/or an Operation Coffee item that will be collected and delivered to a Madison-area food pantry. We appreciate your consideration, and humbly ask if you would consider helping us help the community for the holidays and beyond.

Starting the Conversation with a Cup

In founding Operation Coffee, Wisconsin veteran Sam Floyd (USMC) has truly found his mission. At first, after returning home in 2005 from a tour in Afghanistan, Floyd struggled to adjust to civilian life. Like many veterans navigating their postmilitary careers, he fought a battle for his mental health and at one point, contemplated taking his own life. Because of his experiences overseas, Floyd felt alienated from his friends and loved ones. He knew that to find happiness at home, he had to find and pursue his passion—coffee.

Since Sam had had many impactful conversations over a cup of joe, he decided coffee itself would be his passion. These conversations became the seed for the blossoming idea that would save Floyd’s life, and potentially the lives of other veterans facing post-combat mental health challenges.

Many servicemembers commit suicide, “because they have lost their warrior spirit and hope,” writes Floyd. “A conversation over coffee” can help them start to see that life is indeed worth living and that as veterans, they can take up a new missio to give purpose and meaning to their lives, like the mission of blending coffee did for Sam.