Downtown coffee shop gives a helping hand to YWCA

By Chris Fortune

A local coffee shop is giving its customers the opportunity to support women at the YWCA by treating them to a drink.

Toe Beans Coffee House at 114 S. Eighth St. already has a blessings board inside the shop that works like a pay-it-forward program, but it added a new option this week. Customers can donate $5 to Mugs on a Mission, which provides a 12-ounce drink to women in the YWCA’s programs.

“What I do then is create a little voucher and then give those to the staff, and the staff then hands them out at their discretion,” Toe Beans owner Sara Parks said. “So they have a specific little coupon they redeem with me.”

Parks has worked at a couple of nonprofits in town, including the YWCA, so she was more than eager to help the agency.

“I have that nonprofit spirit, and I always am looking for things to give back,” she said. “And it’s a very hard financial time for lots of people right now.”

The opportunity to have a beverage on the house can make all the difference for women at the YWCA.

“Some of our women have jobs, some are working toward jobs,” said Traci McChristy, volunteer outreach director for the YWCA. “So not having that extra income and being able to just walk down the street and be able to know that they can get a treat like that is a real blessing for them.”

McChristy said the donations remind the women that they are valued and have community support.

“We cannot do all the extra things that we do without our community,” she said. “The volunteers, the donors, those who are doing supply drives, things like this that are outside the box, that’s what helps us and helps our ladies get through tough times.”

Donations can be made to Mugs on a Mission at the counter inside Toe Beans Coffee House or on its website at toe-beans-coffee-house-st-joe.square.site/?item=88#most-popular.