Rise Coffee encourages neighbors to pay it forward

This story originally appeared on RealTime/STL.

While dozens of coffee fanatics head downtown Saturday for day two of Coffee Fest, Rise Coffee in the Grove is debuting a “coffee for the people” program.

“Buy a coffee, pay it forward,” Rise Coffee wrote Saturday morning on an Instagram.

Customers who opt to pay it forward are given a coffee sleeve that they can decorate and pin to a bulletin board. Others can pull that sleeve off the board and redeem it.

“We believe in making our coffeehouse accessible to everyone,” Rise Coffee posted on Instagram. “Our shop is meant to be a place of community for all of our neighbors.”

Rise Coffee is at 4180 Manchester Ave. in St. Louis.

Coffee Fest continues Sunday at America’s Center.