BATON ROUGE — Eight Community Coffee employees were awarded Louisiana Veterans Honor Medals on Tuesday at an event hosted by the local coffee chain and the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs.

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Col. Charlton Meginley (Retired) visited Community Coffee's offices to present the awards to Terry Alwood, Lawrence Braud, Edward McGruder, Douglas Miller, Stephen Morgan, Michelle Turner, Brannon Vaughan and Chris White.

"One of the reasons we really want to give back to those who serve our country is because our name is Community Coffee," Community Coffee Chairman Matt Saurage Jr. said. "Community is our first name. If we're able to connect and provide something of comfort to those overseas, that's meaningful to us. It means we're doing the right thing, doing a good job."