How We Care for Our Airmen

At ShoppersChoice.com we believe that our superior customer service is the hallmark of our operations. So when an opportunity arose to provide this service - and a quality bbq grill - to members of our Armed Forces, we jumped at the chance.

US Air Force Staff Sargent Mastey, is deployed in SWA, along with approximately 60 other service members in her unit. On March 7 2010, she approached ShoppersChoice.com after being very impressed with our site and asked if we could help them out with a new grill. Their old grill was worn out and could no longer be used. They asked for a "deal" on a grill that could withstand the harsh desert weather in South West Asia. We were honored to support our troops by providing the most basic of American outdoor supplies - a grill.

The Airmen were more than excited to hear our response. As SSgt Mastey said, "Everyone here is absolutely excited about your generosity and we cant wait to get the grill." Our job at ShoppersChoice.com was figuring out which grill to send them and how we would get the grill to SWA so the unit could enjoy some home-cooked barbecue as a little taste of home.

When deciding on which grill to send them, we looked for:

• A grill that was durable, could withstand the desert conditions, and had a lid.
• A grill that did not use fuel, because they did not have access to any.
• A grill large enough to grill for many people at once.
• A grill that could be versatile and be able to cook a wide array of meals.
• A grill that, in our opinion, flavored the food to perfection.
• A grill that was easy to use and would be easy to maintain.

ShoppersChoice.com President, Mike Hackley, an Air Force Veteran himself, added, “Most of all, we wanted to provide our troops with a grill that had special meaning to us and could help bring our home to our deployed troops in SWA.”

Our grilling experts at ShoppersChoice.com decided the Cajun Grill BBQ Charcoal Grill was ideal for their situation. A large, solid-based steel charcoal grill, the Cajun Grill BBQ Charcoal Grill has two air vents on each side of the bottom half, unlike most of its competitors that have vents on the top or have top stacks. The advantage to having the vents on the bottom only vs on the top is that it forces the smoke and moisture, that would normally rise up and escape, to roll back around the food before escaping. This simple design enhances the grilled/smoked flavor that would remind the aroma of home and helps to retain the foods moisture. The Cajun Grill BBQ Charcoal Grill also has a tray that the charcoal goes in which is able to move up and down. This is a great feature that would allow them to cook a wide array of foods because they could raise the tray when cooking something like steak or burgers or they could set it lower when wanting to get the full smoke flavor. The Cajun Grill BBQ Charcoal Grill is not only a great all around grill that cooks amazingly well, it also has special meaning to Shopperschoice.com. The grill is manufactured nearby in South Louisiana, so ShoppersChoice.com really felt that we were contributing a part of our home to our brave servicemembers while they are away.

The shipping process was a little difficult because we were shipping to a military base. The weight of the grill on a pallet was roughly 150 lbs, and they could only receive packages up to 70 lbs. After some clever thinking, we got our warehouse men to break the grill down and ship the parts to the Airmen individually so that no one package would exceed the 70 lb limit. As SSgt Mastey stated, "I have never seen someone break their back in order to help us the way you and your company did. Thank you all so very much, it is so nice to see that kind and caring people still help others." She expressed how impressed and excited everyone was when they received the grill and thanked us numerous times. She wanted to pay us back somehow, but the only thing we asked for was a picture of the "Angry Camels" (as they called their unit) and pictures of them enjoying the grill. We were extremely happy to see that we could make our troops excited with just a small token of our appreciation. It is an honor to have been chosen to provide this service to our troops and is something that will never be forgotten. We are glad to have helped out a group of people that make a world of a difference.

God Bless Our Troops!

Official Request Letter

Good Morning,
I am SSgt Mastey and I am currently deployed at the time in South West Asia.I have recently arrived here and will be here for some length of time. I have noticed since my arrival here that the BBQ grill at my location has been through quiet a workload. The bottom has completely fallen out and is completely useless. My question is this. Is there any chance that our section here could by chance receive a "donation" or "discount" for a large portable grill for a morale purposes? I know the sixty personnel in the section would greatly appreciate anything that can be done for us. I understand that your company has probably received a large amount of request for such items, but anything would be put to great use. I would appreciate a response, anytime would be fine. I do hope to hear from you soon as the weather is nice here and I am looking forward to bringing a smile to the faces of many deployed personnel. Thank you for your time and again I hope to hear from you soon. V/R,
SSgt Victoria Mastey
Deployed / SWA