The more coffee you drink, the more likely it is you’re helping where ChildFund International works.

That’s because Dillanos Coffee Roasters, based in Sumner, Wash., sponsors one ChildFund child for each of its employees as a company benefit and an employee education effort. To date, Dillanos sponsors 78 children.

Dillanos’ Marketing Director Lon LaFlamme said the employees enjoy the benefit of sponsoring a child and many employees give separate individual donations to ChildFund throughout the year.

At Dillanos’ headquarters a wall is adorned with photos of the employees and their sponsored children. LaFlamme said the wall is located near a staff meeting room so employees can easily see it, as well as the general public who tour the facility.

Dillanos’ work with ChildFund is a direct reflection of the coffee roaster’s mission statement: “Help People. Make Friends. Have Fun.” Dillanos also focuses on providing excellent customer service, top-of-the-line training and social responsibility.

“Putting others first – like the kids in ChildFund International – not only supports our mission statement and culture, it also encourages our family of employees to put the welfare of Dillanos first. Selflessness builds great companies and happy employees,” said Dillanos’ CEO David Morris.

Dillanos Coffee Roasters is a family owned and operated company. It was founded in 1992 and is headed by Chairman Howard Heyer, CEO David Morris and President Chris Heyer.

Dillanos has won numerous awards for its coffee and was recognized in 2006 as a Best Place to Work by the Business Examiner in the South Sound area of Washington state.  LaFlamme said the majority of Dillanos’ business is private label, meaning that stores or restaurants buy Dillanos coffee, but sell it under a different brand.

LaFlamme said Dillanos sponsors children in coffee-growing countries such as Ethiopia, Honduras and Brazil. He also said he has enjoyed watching his sponsored child become a teenager in the past four years. She’s now 14 and lives in South America.

“I’ve watched her grow up, just as other employees have watched their sponsored children grow up,” LaFlamme said. “It’s been an interesting evolution.”