Dreams and Possibilities - A Cup of Kindness

Sitting down last night, on my new bed, I was enjoying a cup of tea and thinking about an idea for a tea shop.  So when I went to bed last night, I was not surprised to dream about a business I wanted to start.  I always have these grand philanthropic ideas and only wish that I had the capital to make it happen.  I have always tried to keep and promote happiness and positivity among my friends, relatives, and acquaintances.  One of the things that always strikes me as  necessary is the idea of helping others to spread happiness and chances for peace.  I always have ideas of a yoga, coffee, tea, new age store but this idea really stuck with me even through dreams and into the morning.  So...here is my "if I had money" idea/dreams:

I would open a tea shop/cafe, possibly called TEAmwork Cafe** or A Cup of Kindness and participate in Suspended Coffees.  For those of you that don't know, Suspended Coffees is an amazing movement of kindness and good will, see below for their mission statement:

"At Suspended Coffees, we restore faith, by highlighting the simple acts of kindness happening all around us, and encouraging others to do the same.

Kindness can come in many forms, including the purchase of a suspended coffee, which is the very idea that inspired this movement. A suspended coffee is the advance purchase of a cup of coffee for someone who needs it, no matter why.

But it really is about so much more than the coffee. It can provide physical comfort, conversation, a smile or even a laugh, and a sense of belonging. A suspended coffee can change lives, sometimes even save them.

The spirit and ambition of the Suspended Coffee movement is supported by thousands of cafés around the world, places that are at the hub of local communities, serving suspended coffees (and more) and sharing goodwill and compassion every day.

We invite you join our journey as we change the world, one cup of kindness at a time." - - Per the Suspended Coffees website

So in addition with the cafe, I would also run a soup/sandwich kitchen for the needy. The soup and and sandwiches would be available for anyone who needed a warm meal.  Maybe even run that like Rosa's Fresh Pizza, where you can buy food for someone under the Little Rosa Purchase idea.  See below for an explanation of the Little Rosa Purchase:

"Now YOU can pre-purchase a hot slice of pizza for one of the many homeless Philadelphians we serve. Every Little Rosa you buy represents a slice of pizza that will go towards feeding residents of Philadelphia in desperate need when they enter our store without enough money.

Help Rosa's fight hunger! We appreciate your kindness!" - Per the Rosa's Fresh Pizza website.

Anyway - so another part of my idea is to help the homeless be warm and maybe do their laundry and such while they enjoy a meal, a cuppa, or getting warm.  In the main restaurant, there would be window boxes lined, maybe lined in cedar, because I know I always got a warm fuzzy feeling from the smell of a cedar chest.  In the window boxes I would store warm blankets for anyone to use, maybe have a donation box available for donated blankets in case people need them to keep warm outside.  It would be nice to have a "donate your coat" rack that someone could hang their spare coat and donate it to a homeless person in need too!  

I would have to check with zoning and insurance issues, but I would also want to have a full functioning bathroom to take a shower.  Because a lot of these ideas would involve doing laundry, for the donated coats, towels, and maybe even clothes of the people in need, I would need to have a washer and dryer available too.  Especially during the changes in temperature people need a place to go to get their clothing tended.

Another idea would be to host career training days, CV or resume building workshops, and maybe even coordinated visits from the Trades to set up awareness for apprenticeships and job skills.  An idea was to hire homeless or needy people to give them a way to help themselves and get experience and good references on their work record.  I really love the idea of helping people help themselves and giving people in need a chance at happiness.

We could even develop a "give a backpack" campaign where our patrons purchase backpacks at $20 full of toiletries and necessary supplies to be used by our patrons-in-need.  I love the idea that Wounded Warrior has, so why not develop that to fit this situation? I think it could work.

OK - so this is also a normal business that also has clientele besides those we are trying to help with charity and kindness.  We would also be working to bring positivity and joy to anyone and everyone's lives.  So I would employ the use of 100% recyclable, compostable utensils and eatery products; like tea cups and coffee cups, plates, napkins, etc.  There are those cool recyclable and compostable go-green sites that I would be thrilled to support with my business. 

So, to spread positivity and kindness, my staff and I would leave notes for our customers on the coffee cups and tea cups, writing positive remarks/sentiments to brighten their day.

Since this would also be an exercise in community awareness and development, I would want to cultivate community and support for the people who frequent the shop, so I could run artist spotlight weeks where an artist could show and sell their work. Host Poetry Tuesdays, Chess Wednesdays, D&D Fridays.  In addition to all of this, I would want to make sure that I encourage the healthy living and health awareness, so I'd get groups together to participate in every fun and charitable 5k or run/walk ever!

See what one cup of tea can do?  It can turn you into a dreamer, and maybe even a doer.  I am actually trying to figure out if this all is possible, even in stages.  I know this all sounds like I am a tree-hugging hippy...and I am...but I really want all of this to be possible. Due to my fibromyalgia and it's associated depression/anxiety, I struggle to get up or move every day but I am blessed with what I have and want other people to feel blessed or have a chance to feel good.

(**much love and all due citation to Kelly for the name - still a W.I.P. and not the final choice yet)