Christmas spirit is alive and well in Toronto’s Leslieville neighbourhood after a customer of a local cafe bought coffee for 100 strangers.
Grinder Coffee, located on Gerrard Street East, had a break-in early Saturday morning and had to close for the day to clean up.
After reading about the incident on Facebook, a female customer came in to support the business. The woman bought 100 coffees for customers and gave a large tip for staff since they lost a shift.
The gesture left coffee shop owner Joelle Murray “near tears.”
“It was just a hard day that day. You know when it rains it pours — you’re trying to deal with your insurance, getting the door replaced and figuring out how you’re going to do things,” she said.
“A person who isn’t a real regular – she doesn’t come here all that often – you know, took the time to think of us and take that extra step, (it) was quite amazing.”
Murray said most customers who received the free coffee either wanted to pay it forward or left money in the tip jar.