Kids & Family

Beaumont Starbucks Sets Record 'Pay It Forward' Trend

More than 200 customers recently paid it forward at the coffee shop.

A random act of kindness at a Beaumont Starbucks recently snowballed into a huge giving spree.

On April 11, what started as a simple "pay it forward" by one customer who decided to pick up the tab of the person behind them in the drive-thru line at the 2nd Street Marketplace Starbucks, soon turned into eight and a half hours of kindness.

From about 5:30 a.m. until around 2 p.m., a total of 210 strangers picked up the tab for the next customer in line, Patch is told.

"It was in the morning, and it was a random person who started it and it kept going," Shift Supervisor Jonathan Johnson tells Banning-Beaumont Patch.  "I know that was the most we have ever had... we have the receipts to prove it."

One person even donated $50 to the action, he said.

So, what kept it all going so long?

Johnson and other employees say a kindhearted barista working the drive-thru window was a great cheerleader throughout the entire time.

"One of our partners, Debbie, was so fun and upbeat about it that it just kept going!" another employee, Joanna Evans, said.

In all, Johnson estimates that more than $1,100 was "paid forward."

Starbucks Corporate representatives tell Patch they don't keep track of "pay it forward" sprees, so it's unclear how this stacks up against other kind deeds of the like.



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