Coffee Shop Owner Delivers 6,000 Warm Coats and Coffee to the Homeless

• Pilot Pete Coffee Shop has been heading a donation drive for coats and other warm materials for the homeless of Chicago.
• ‘Coffee With A Purpose’ started with 3,000 coats and now in its 7^th year, they have gathered and distributed blankets, scarves, personal hygiene products, and of course, coffee.
• The homeless sector that has become invisible to society’s eye has been recognized and given help.

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Human kindness is everywhere.  The COVID-19 pandemic may have brought it out in the open but even before it happened, people have volunteered to donate or deliver goods and services.  One coffee shop owner, Pilot Pete, a.k.a. Peter Thomas has spearheaded ‘Coffee With A Purpose’ every year to collect and distribute coats for the homeless that have no choice but to brave the cold Midwest winters.  This is their 7^th year.

During their first year, their group gathered 3,000 coats.

This year, Thomas and other volunteers made use of a 26-foot moving truck to distribute the coats and managed to make a sum of six stops in the greater Chicago area.

Aside from the 40 gallons of coffee from Pilot Pete’s, there were baked goods from Rough Edges Confectionery.  The truck and driver were courtesy of Good Move Movers, and the customized signage for the truck was made by Angel Fancy Design Studio.

The truck contained free coats, hats, scarves, blankets, personal hygiene items for those who needed it at the stops that they made.

With the COVID-19’s effects, more people were in need of what the group had collected and given. Thomas said,  “[When]we made this effort, all the shelters were on lockdown. No one was allowed in or out, that is, once you’re out, you can’t get back in, so there are more and more homeless people… This is a good year to be extra giving.”

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Thomas added that what he and the community members achieved aside from providing the coffee and other goods, was the human connection that they have forged with these people who have been considered invisible in society.

He says the one-on-one interactions as they give out the donations makes the experience more authentic. “You never know where someone has been or what someone’s been through before meeting them. With the homeless, we treat everyone the same or equal,” Thomas said.

Pilot Pete’s Coffee & Treats has become not just a coffee shop but a symbol of human kindness; the kind that keeps on giving warm and comforting attention.

Source: Good News Network