Kids & Family

Man Steals from Coffee Shop—and You'll Never Guess What Happened Next

Who says the punishment always has to fit the crime?

Written by Maridel Reyes

An Ohio coffee shop is showing some compassion this holiday season by starting a food drive for a man who stole from its tip jar.

After a man was caught on a surveillance camera swiping cash from the tip jar at Nervous Dog Coffee Bar & Roaster in Stow, management decided not to call the police. Instead, Nervous Dog is hosting a food drive for the man at its two locations, local station WKYC reported.

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The store posted the following statement on its Facebook page:

“Folks—we figured anyone desperate enough to steal a few bucks from a kid working her way through college, is likely pretty hungry. So we thought we would initiate a canned food drive for him; we’ll begin with a can or two from each employee, and make a box available in each of our shops for your kind contributions.

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If anyone is able to help us find this unfortunate man, we will make the donations available to him Christmas week (the week of 12/23). We will also provide him with free brewed coffee for the remainder of this year. If he is unable to get to the shop again in order to pick up the food, we are happy to drop it off if anyone can help us locate the hungry fellow.”

The first person to make a donation? The barista on duty when the tip jar money was stolen.

If the man doesn’t come forward, the shop said that all collected items will be donated to the Akron Food Bank. 


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