The term Suspended Coffee, widely known as caffè sospeso or caffè pagato (paid coffee) in Italian, stands for a beautiful concept, an innovation in terms of charity.
The whole idea captured my thought process. It talks about ordering a coffee at a restaurant, one for yourself and another one as a suspended coffee. When a person who cannot afford to pay for the coffee, approaches such restaurants and checks on the availability of suspended coffees, the restaurant serves them one. You can be contended that charity work initiated by you has reached its destiny and be cheerful that you've maintained the anonymity here.
It told me hard that, you don't have to visit the charity houses and the so called orphanages, to give away and convince yourself that you've done something good for the society. Sharing a meal or even a coffee will do good; for the soul in need and for the soul in deed.
The latest Coca Cola ad on Indian TV channels seems to have taken a hint out of this concept. It talks about sharing happiness and Suspended Coffee talks about sharing the warmth.
Now that, the Suspended Coffee concept has been successfully implemented in various parts of the world, the puzzle's bothering me are;
Creating Awareness - Convincing set of restaurants to accept Suspended Coffee's and making people aware on the list of hotels / restaurants that have deployed this concept.
Effective contribution - People in society are generous enough. Spreading awareness is all that's needed.
Effective contribution - People in society are generous enough. Spreading awareness is all that's needed.
Efficient consumption - Ensuring that the people who cannot afford to pay, receive them when they need it most. This shouldn't send out a message that daily needs of certain people are met even when they don't work for their livelihood.
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| Declan Jacobs (left), a founder of the Suspended Coffee Society Melbourne, with Petros Prokopis, manager of Amici Bakery in Prahran, one of the first to get involved. |
References:
Caffè sospeso - On Wikipedia
Have a Coffee and Buy one for the Needy - An article in 'The Border Mail'
