WALLINGFORD, Conn. -- When a member of the First Congregational Church in Wallingford was deployed to Iraq, she sent back a unique request.

"The chaplains were trying to put together a casual coffee house and she e-mailed her boyfriend, and he made an announcement the next Sunday and we started with a very modest coffee drive," said the fundraiser's organizer, Thomas Jastermsky.

Jastermsky said the modest coffee drive soon began to grow and to date; 22,000 pounds of coffee have been donated.

"It's not just coffee," said Jastermsky. "I see some coffee, I see some creamers, I see some coffee machines, I see a cappuccino machine over there … whatever it takes to make the troops sit and relax with something that may actually remind them and feel like home."

The so-called Holy Joe's cafes have expanded are now run by military chaplains on bases around Iraq and Afghanistan.

Church member Carol Wallace and her company, Cooper Atkins, got involved to help get the donations to the soldiers.

"Since Cooper Atkins ships internationally, we know how to do it," she said. "We know how to do it efficiently, and so we're donating our time and materials and the shipping costs of making sure these products get to the troops."

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Eric Parker reported that more than 130,000 cups of coffee have been served by Holy Joes.