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

Coffee-drinkers who are lucky enough to read anything other than "please play again" printed underneath the rim of their Tim Hortons' cup could usually expect a free double-double, or perhaps a donut, redeemable only at the chain's numerous Canadian locations.

But this year, people in Thunder Bay, Ont., who win free coffees in Tim Hortons' 'Roll up to Win' campaign will have a second option — to trade their winning cup in for a coffee or tea at a local, independent coffee shop. 

Bay Village Coffee will accept donations of the winning tabs in exchange for a regular brewed coffee or tea, said owner Alan Forbes. He said he plans to donate all the free coffee coupons to Shelter House, a Thunder Bay homeless shelter.

"It's a win-win because people are still getting their free coffee and somebody else is getting a free coffee as well," said Forbes.  "We're just excited to be doing something different and giving people a different way to give back."

Forbes said they're calling it the "Roll up, trade up, give back" campaign. He thinks it's different and separate enough from Tim Hortons' contest to avoid copyright infringement.

While many of the prizes in Tim Hortons' contest are hot beverages and food items, there are also bigger-ticket prizes like all-inclusive vacations, ATVs and a 2025 Volkswagon. Forbes said no one's tried to trade in anything that large yet, but their capacity to match prizes ends at coffee.

"I have a pretty old Hyundai Elantra outside, but I don't think anybody would be too interested in that," he said. 

In addition to the customers coming to trade winning coffee tabs for drinks at Bay Village, Forbes said some have also donated tabs for food prizes like a donut without wanting anything in return.

"Thunder Bay is a super generous community. Anytime that we've done any kind of a fundraiser or any attempt to give back to the community, it's very well received and it always impresses us," said Forbes. 

The coffee tab donation campaign was a surprise, said Shelter House executive director Brendan Carlin. While the shelter hasn't received any of the tabs yet, Carlin said he anticipates clients will be excited to be able to enjoy a hot drink.

"Coffee is not a common donation for us. So it's really creative thinking on the part of Bay Village," he said. 

While it frequently gets donations of canned foods and restaurant leftovers, donations that could be considered "treats"  are rarer, said Carlin.

"Whether it's coffee or even chocolate or candy or something like that, it's really important. These are people who are vulnerable. They're always in survival mode. And anything that we can do, or the public can do to brighten that is wonderful," he said. 

While Shelter House does get funding to operate, Carlin said it depends on the support of the community and local businesses to keep operating. Even fundraisers that don't raise significant amounts of money are still helpful to raise awareness and support the vulnerable, he said.