By MARA PATTISON-SOWDEN
THE idea of ’suspended coffees’ started up to a decade ago in Naples, Italy, but is quickly catching on around the world – including the Yarra Valley.
Customers can walk into a coffee shop supporting the scheme and pay for a coffee for themselves, and a ’suspended coffee’.
This covers the cost of a coffee that can then be claimed for free by a homeless person or someone who can’t afford the luxury that some people indulge in daily.
The pay-it-forward method has reached Valley Xpresso, a Woori Yallock family business that already supports fundraising events and charities in the area.
Owner Steve Taylor said he jumped on board when one of his customers shared a post about suspended coffees on the Valley Xpresso Facebook wall.
“It only happened about two weeks ago and we already have 40 suspended coffees at both our Lilydale and Woori Yallock sites,” he said.
“There’s a real community feel out here and people bend over backwards to help each other.
“Our biggest challenge is letting the people who need it, know about it.”
While he said schemes like this could see people taking advantage of a free coffee, he believed most people helped each other, “and who am I to judge who does need it?”
“There are so many people out here who are in need and we see it every day,” he said.
“This is another way we can give back and the community can support each other.”
Mr Taylor said as an example he ran a competition last week where the winner received five free coffees, but the winner decided to take just one and suspend the other four.
“It was exciting to start this but it will be even more exciting to see them being used,” he said.
“People like to help each other out here.”
He said his next task was to contact the valley’s welfare agencies to get the word out to those who could benefit from this act of community kindness.
Mr Taylor has offered Mail readers the opportunity to take this story to either the Woori Yallock or Lilydale coffee trailer sites and for each coffee they buy he will suspend a coffee for someone in need.
