PORT ANGELES — When baristas at the Daily Grind set out to donate their tips to the Salvation Army, the response from customers exceeded their expectations.
Donations were so large that Shae Bennett, owner of the Daily Grind at 1919 E. First St. in Port Angeles, said she and her six employees plan to adopt one family through the Salvation Army’s program.
In the Adopt A Family program, the wish list of everyone in a family is given to the “adopter” and fulfilled.
Donations flow in
On Nov. 20 and 21, the coffee shop advertised their plans, and donations came flowing in.
“By the end, they had raised $937.50,” Bennett said.
“They were so excited.”
Bennett matched the donations, rounding the donation to $1,875, she said.
“We have a lot of customers that thought this was such a great thing to do,” she said.
In the end, the group will fulfill the wish lists of two families. One family has two parents with seven children, and the other is a grandmother, a mother and four children, she said.
She said she hoped to fill the wish lists economically so that the rest of the money could be given in gift certificates, allowing the parents freedom to purchase whatever they needed.
Adopt A Family
The Salvation Army has about a dozen families in the Adopt A Family program, said Cherilee Ramsey, who coordinates the program.
However, more than 1,000 children are already signed up for the Angel Tree program in which an individual child’s wish list is bought.
Angel Trees are set up in more than 40 locations throughout the North Olympic Peninsula, Ramsey said.
Most banks, doctors’ offices and many stores house Angel Trees. A person can take the paper angels off the tree to “adopt a child” for Christmas.
Many more children are likely to be signed up, as applications for Christmas assistance are still being taken at the Salvation Army, 206 S. Peabody St.
Applications will be taken from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday until Wednesday, Dec. 15, Ramsey said.
For more information on any of the programs, phone Ramsey at 360-452-7679.