diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index eab911d..e6d73d9 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
     <!-- in case we are running in release env -->
     <fileset dir="${flume.base}/lib">
       <include name="flume-*.jar" />
+      <include name="kestrel-client*.jar" />
     </fileset>
     <pathelement location="${flume.base}/lib/"/>
   </path>
diff --git a/src/com/blangdon/flume/kestrel/KestrelSink.java b/src/com/blangdon/flume/kestrel/KestrelSink.java
index 442c1ab..6140713 100644
--- a/src/com/blangdon/flume/kestrel/KestrelSink.java
+++ b/src/com/blangdon/flume/kestrel/KestrelSink.java
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package com.blangdon.flume.Kestrel;
 
 
+import iinteractive.kestrel.*;
+
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -19,24 +21,39 @@ import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 public class KestrelSink extends EventSink.Base {
 	
 
-    public KestrelSink(){
+    private String queue = null;
+    private String server = null;
+    private Client client = null;
+
+    public KestrelSink(String queue, String server){
 	//constructor
+	this.queue = queue;
+	this.server = server;
+	this.client = new Client(this.server);
     }
 
     @Override
 	public void open() throws IOException {
 	// Initialized the sink
+	this.client.connect();
     }
     
     @Override
 	public void append(Event e) throws IOException {
 	//send to Kestrel
+	String message = new String(e.getBody());
+	try{
+	    this.client.put(this.queue, message);
+	}catch( KestrelException ke ){
+	    throw new IOException(ke.getMessage());
+	}
     }
 
 
     @Override
 	public void close() throws IOException {
 	// Cleanup
+	this.client.disconnect();
     }
     
     public static SinkBuilder builder() {
@@ -47,7 +64,7 @@ public class KestrelSink extends EventSink.Base {
 		Preconditions.checkArgument(argv.length > 1,
 					    "usage: kestrelSink(queueName, server:port, [server2:port, server3:port,...])");
 
-		return new KestrelSink();
+		return new KestrelSink(argv[0], argv[1]);
 	    }
 	};
     }