Visalia coffee shop, Common Heart, is spreading kindness throughout the community.
Feb. 15 to the 21 is recognized nationally as Kindness Week, with Tuesday, Feb. 17 being known as National Random Acts of Kindness Day.
Common Heart owners Mike and Jessica Rodriguez’s commitment to spreading kindness goes beyond a national weeklong movement. The family is committed to supporting local nonprofits throughout the year.
“Common Heart is more than coffee. Its primary goal has always been to be a space where people are seen and loved, an extension of true community, woven into people’s everyday lives,” Jessica Rodriguez said. “We are honored to partner with so many amazing nonprofit organizations doing worthwhile work right here in Visalia.”
Common Heart kicked off the year by donating a percentage of the money earned during their store’s three-year birthday party event to local nonprofit Valley Oak SPCA. In the last six months, they have also supported CASA, Visalia Police Department and Neighborhood Degree.
In honor of Kindness Week, Common Heart Coffee will donate coffee to the College of the Sequoias Child Development Department for students to deliver to Kaweah Delta Hospice and pediatric nurses.
They also teamed up with Valley Life students who decorated coffee sleeves with kind messages for customers during Kindness Week.
As part of Kindness Week, Valley Life Charter School created a community outreach project to spread positivity beyond their campus. Students in fourth through eighth grade decorated coffee sleeves with kind messages and drawings to share with customers at Common Heart. Teachers helped facilitate the activity in their classrooms, and students participated by writing notes or creating artwork.
“At Valley Life Charter School, we truly believe that even small acts of kindness can have a big impact. This project gave our students the opportunity to lead with compassion and creativity by sharing positive messages and artwork with the community,” Counselor and Project Coordinator Hope Baker said. “Partnering with Common Heart allowed them to see their kindness come to life in a real way. Watching their work brighten someone’s day reminds our students that their voices matter and that kindness can travel far, sometimes starting with something as simple as a cup of coffee.”
For people wanting to help support a small locally owned business that works hard to give back to Visalia and the people that live here purchasing a drink at Common Heart is a good place to start.
Common Heart has a drink menu named after local people they love. They also serve traditional tea, coffee, hot chocolate, Italian sodas and smoothies. Each season a drink menu is created by the 13 employees at the coffee shop and customers are also welcome to order their favorite drinks even if they aren’t on the menu.
“The more we all come together to love Visalia, the better our hometown becomes,” Jessica Rodriguez said. “A place we can all be proud of.”
What to Know
Follow on Instagram @commonheartvisalia, or check out their website at: commonheartvisalia.com to see all the unique custom drinks they offer.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Visalia’s Common Heart coffee shop brews kindness beyond the cup
Reporting by Meade Trueworthy, Special to Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
