- Random act of kindness led to 5,435 cups being gifted at chain's branches
- Tim Horton's spokesman denies donations are part of marketing campaign
- Branch at a hospital treated twice on same day
By Jessica Jerreat
PUBLISHED: 18:27 EST, 26 July 2013 | UPDATED: 22:17 EST, 26 July 2013
What started as a random act of kindness in a branch of Tim Horton's has triggered a succession of coffee-buying kindness.
On Monday afternoon, a man in his 20s walked into an Edmonton branch of the coffee chain and ordered 500 cups of coffee, costing him $850.
As word spread of the generous gesture, others followed the anonymous donor's lead and soon rounds of coffee were being bought in several other Canadian towns by kind-hearted customers.
Cup of kindness: An anonymous customer in Edmonton sparked the trend when he bought 500 large coffees
By Friday, Tim Horton's staff, who said they were as surprised and thrilled about the trend as everyone else, sent a tweet stating: 'Eleven acts of kindness, 5,435 cups of coffee, one amazing week,'
The person who sparked the coffee-buying spree gave no reason for his large purchase to store manager Joanne Averion, and asked only that the drinks be handed out to the next 500 customers, according to the Huffington Post.
His generosity kept customers in free coffee until about 8.30am the following day.?
'That's pretty awesome just to know people are out there willing to just go "Hey, let's do something nice for somebody else",' one customer said.
What had appeared to be a one-off gesture however, soon became a chance to 'play it forward', with a customer in Calgary repeating the stunt in the Crowfoot Crossing branch on Wednesday.
Double order: Customers at the chain's branch in an Edmonton hospital were treated to free coffee twice in one day
Grateful: Monica Kavanaugh paid for 800 cups at the hospital to thank staff for looking after her father
On Thursday, word had spread, with people stopping for a coffee break in Red Deer and Ottawa, as well as those at a hospital, finding they had been treated to a free drink.
Staff at the Tim Horton's kiosk at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton said a man wearing hospital scrubs bought $500 of coffee in the morning and then a woman ordered 800 cups in the afternoon to thank staff for looking after her father.
One of the donors, Monica Kavanaugh, said: 'They've helped my father a lot and I just feel, why not give a little back to the hospital?'
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Hospital shift manager Brenda O'Connor told the Calgary Sun: 'It really picks up everyone?s morale. Some people get good and some get bad news and we see that.'
She added it was touching to see 'some of that stress gone just because there?s someone out there with a little generosity'.
As word of the coffee-buying trend spread, some started to speculate that it could be part of a marketing campaign by the coffee chain.
However, Tim Horton's spokesman Michelle Robichaud denied that was the case, telling CBC: 'We?re just as surprised and thrilled as our guests have been by these incredible random acts of kindness...our only role is really in pouring the cups of coffee.'
Brewing: The coffee-buying trend started in Edmonton, above, but was soon replicated in other branches, including ones in Red Deer, left, and Calgary, right
The kindness bug made sure another 500 customers got off on the right foot on Friday, after a regular at the Chestermere branch, near Calgary, treated his fellow customers at 6am.
Manager Valerie Bruce said the donor, who wanted to remain anonymous, was a regular customer and that his actions had touched the town's residents.
'They?re just touched that it happened here in Chestermere with one of our locals,' she said.
'He?s a wonderful, terrific, kindhearted man. He said that "I hope other people recognize this as a random act of kindness and they will pay it forward themselves for somebody".'
His wishes were fulfilled later in the day when a customer came in and ordered 20 cups of coffee to be given away.
A local radio station on Friday also encouraged early morning listeners to get involved, by getting them to call in and donate money to a fund, which resulted in 785 coffees being purchased
'This was all spur of the moment,' Rock 102 morning anchor Derek Watson told the Leader Post. 'The phones lit up.'
Thrilled: Tim Horton's was shocked and delighted by its customers' generosity
The station paid for 500 coffees at a Saskatoon branch, but a listener later went into the same branch and bought a further 285.
It is not the first time Tim Horton's customers have showed their kindness to fellow coffee lovers. In the run up to last Christmas a customer in Winnipeg offered to pay for the coffee of the next person in line, according to Oddee.
The simple act of kindness led to a chain of 228 customers treating the person next in line to free drinks, and was only broken when a man who had been given four free coffees broke the chain by not paying for the next person's drinks.
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