Suspended Coffees

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Do you love your lattes? Do you hang out for your morning macchiato? Are you a cappuccino connoisseur? If so, than next time you open up your wallet to pay for your barista made coffee maybe think about those less fortunate than yourself who cannot afford an expensive espresso.



The Suspended Coffee movement has hit Sydney big time and it is giving us an opportunity of donating some of our spare change to a very worthwhile cause. Not everyone can afford to grab a takeaway coffee in the morning, or to sit down and sip a flat white whilst watching the word go by in a café. So what do you do? Basically when you buy a coffee you also pay in adavance for a coffee for someone who cannot afford one. Someone who is socially disadvantaged, not someone who has left their wallet at home.



The Suspended Coffee movement began in the home of espresso – Italy! The Italians are a generous lot and they love their daily ritual of having a coffee made by a barista in their neighbourhood café. However during hard times the luxury of going to a café for a coffee cannot be afforded by all. To extend some goodwill to their neighbour who was in need, Italians started purchasing a "Caffe Sospeso" (suspended coffee) in advance for them so that everyone had the ability to enjoy a coffee whenever they wanted. The goodwill has now spread across the globe and you are more than likely to find cafés in most cities throughout the world supporting the suspended coffee cause.



So how do you do it? Firstly check out the Suspended Coffee's facebook page and find a café close by to you that is supporting the cause. Go in buy your usual caffeine fix and then also give the same amount money over to pay for someone else's caffeine fix. If your local café isn't on board well then encourage them to jump on the bandwagon! It's not going to financially cost your favourite café anything, maybe just a wee bit of time to set it up. There are cards/tokens available that can be given to those in need and when they want a coffee they just pop into the cafe and hand over the card/token instead of cash.



I'm sure there are a few of you out there who are naysayers and will immediately think that the system can be manipulated and sure it possibly can. People who have just run out of cash due to buying an expensive pair of shoes or others who may like to wrought the system will no doubt try and get a free coffee but this is where the café steps in to try and minimise people taking advantage. Cafes are doing things such as handing the cards to charities such at the Salvos, Vinnies and Missionbeat and asking that they give the cards to those in need. You will probably also find that cafes don't have big signs hanging in their windows advertising that they are involved in the movement. They are more than likely to have a sign at the cash register. Word of mouth has been instrumental in promoting the movement amongst those who are in need.



Some cafes are also extending their generosity by offering free muffins or banana bread instead as there are sometimes when those in need require food more than coffee. Here are some cafes in Sydney that have joined the movement. There are many more just check the FB page to find them:

3 Ropes Espresso – Parramatta
Pages Café – West Ryde
Sugarloaf Patisserie – Kogarah
Get York Coffee – CBD
Baker, Caker, Coffee Maker - Manly

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#charity
#cafes
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