Thunder Bay coffee shop collecting donated Roll Up the Rim prizes for unhoused

Michelle Allan · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: March 6

Coffee-drinkers who are fortunate capable to read thing different than "please play again" printed underneath the rim of their Tim Hortons' cupful could usually expect a escaped double-double, oregon possibly a donut, redeemable lone astatine the chain's galore Canadian locations.

But this year, radical successful Thunder Bay, Ont., who triumph escaped coffees successful Tim Hortons' 'Roll up to Win' run volition person a 2nd enactment — to commercialized their winning cupful successful for a java oregon beverage astatine a local, autarkic java shop. 

Bay Village Coffee volition judge donations of the winning tabs successful speech for a regular brewed java oregon tea, said proprietor Alan Forbes. He said helium plans to donate each the escaped java coupons to Shelter House, a Thunder Bay stateless shelter.

"It's a win-win due to the fact that radical are inactive getting their escaped java and idiosyncratic other is getting a escaped java arsenic well," said Forbes.  "We're conscionable excited to beryllium doing thing antithetic and giving radical a antithetic mode to springiness back."

Forbes said they're calling it the "Roll up, commercialized up, springiness back" campaign. He thinks it's antithetic and abstracted capable from Tim Hortons' contention to debar copyright infringement.

While galore of the prizes successful Tim Hortons' contention are blistery beverages and nutrient items, determination are besides bigger-ticket prizes similar all-inclusive vacations, ATVs and a 2025 Volkswagon. Forbes said nary one's tried to commercialized successful thing that ample yet, but their capableness to lucifer prizes ends astatine coffee.

"I person a beauteous aged Hyundai Elantra outside, but I don't deliberation anybody would beryllium excessively funny successful that," helium said. 

In summation to the customers coming to commercialized winning java tabs for drinks astatine Bay Village, Forbes said immoderate person besides donated tabs for nutrient prizes similar a donut without wanting thing successful return.

"Thunder Bay is a ace generous community. Anytime that we've done immoderate benignant of a fundraiser oregon immoderate effort to springiness backmost to the community, it's precise good received and it ever impresses us," said Forbes. 

Coffee coupons tin beryllium a 'treat' for radical successful 'survival mode': Shelter House

The java tab donation run was a surprise, said Shelter House enforcement director Brendan Carlin. While the structure hasn't received immoderate of the tabs yet, Carlin said helium anticipates clients volition beryllium excited to beryllium capable to bask a blistery drink.

"Coffee is not a communal donation for us. So it's truly originative reasoning connected the portion of Bay Village," helium said. 

While it often gets donations of canned foods and edifice leftovers, donations that could beryllium considered "treats"  are rarer, said Carlin.

"Whether it's java oregon adjacent cocoa oregon candy oregon thing similar that, it's truly important. These are radical who are vulnerable. They're ever successful endurance mode. And thing that we tin do, oregon the nationalist tin do to brighten that is wonderful," helium said. 

While Shelter House does get backing to operate, Carlin said it depends connected the enactment of the assemblage and section businesses to support operating. Even fundraisers that don't rise important amounts of wealth are inactive adjuvant to rise consciousness and enactment the vulnerable, helium said. 

"We can't hole the contented without everybody moving together," said Carlin.