Broista Kate Lonstron tells a story of radiating kindness to a man in need at a new stand in Everett, Washington. A few weeks before the stand opened, she and her co-workers were going through training.
“It was a cold, gloomy evening,” Lonstron said. The trainees noticed a man roaming the parking lot. “He came up to the window, … and we all stood at the window to greet this guy. He had ratty worn-out clothes, dirt all over him, and a raspy beard. He looked like he had been through some stuff and could use a hot shower.”
He told them he had just gotten out of jail, his dog had died, and he had “nothing left in his life.”
“The guy was very distraught,” Lonstron said. “We asked his name, and he seemed hesitant to share this with us, but he shared that his name was Caleb.”
They gave Caleb a hot mocha. He had tears in his eyes as he shared that the single piece of paper in his hands was the only possession to his name — papers for his dog that had been killed. He asked whether the trainees could keep it for safekeeping in the stand “because that dog was his best friend, and he [didn’t] know where he himself will end up, let alone the papers,” Lonstron told us.
“You could tell this was very hard for Caleb, but something we did made him feel safe with us,” Lonstron said. “We ended up all giving him a big hug and sending him on his way with a filled heart.”
A few weeks later, a man approached the stand window, “head held high with a nice clean outfit on,” Lonstron said. “He had a huge grin on his face and a shine about him.”
It took her a moment to realize it was Caleb.
“I just wanted to tell you how much you guys changed my life that night,” Lonstron recalled him telling her. “It’s been over five years since someone has given me a hug or told me that they loved me,” he told her, tears flowing.
He met a family who helped him get on his feet, got a stable job, and had been sober since their encounter.
“You changed my life that night,” he told them.
“Every act of care and kindness can make a huge impact in the world,” Lonstron said. “The shop wasn’t even open yet, and we were able to show love and support to someone who really needed it. … Dutch Bros lays a foundation and makes it easy for us to have an impact at the window with our customers everyday, but being able to take that outside the window and in everyday life is next-level. … Sometimes, those special people will fall right into your lap when you least expect it.”