Pay It Forward
The Kindness Sleeve
This isn't the usual buy-a-coffee-for-the-next-person idea. Here, you write something on it first.
Imagine someone is having one of the hardest days of their life.
They walk in. They don't know anybody. They're not going to explain themselves to a stranger behind a counter.
What would you want that person to hear?
Maybe something like
- You are going to be okay.
- Please don't give up.
- Someone believes in you.
- You matter more than you know.
- This hard day will pass.
Write that on the sleeve, and leave it here for a stranger you may never meet.
How it works
- 1
Buy a sleeve, any amount
You choose what it's worth. A coffee, a chai, a whole meal. There's no set price and nobody is checking.
- 2
Write your message
There's a pen by the till. Write the thing you'd want to hear on your worst day. Take a moment over it — this is the part that matters.
- 3
Leave it behind
We put it up where everyone can see it, alongside all the others. And then you go home.
- 4
Someone chooses it
Somebody having a rough day looks through the sleeves and picks the message that speaks to them the most. No form. No questions. No proving anything.
That's the part that gets people.
They don't just receive a free drink. They stand there and read through what strangers have written, and they choose the one that says the thing they needed today.
And that sleeve tells them something quite beautiful:
Someone thought about you before they even knew you existed. They left a little kindness behind for the day you might need it.
A stranger thought about you before they even knew you existed.
It's more than paying for someone's coffee.
It's one human being quietly telling another:
"Whatever you're going through today, you're not going through it completely alone."
If you need one
If you need one, take one
That's what they're there for, and nobody is keeping score.
You don't have to explain your situation, look a certain way, or be having the worst day of your life. Short this week, forgot your wallet, had a horrible morning — all perfectly good reasons.
Read them. Pick the one that speaks to you. We'll make the drink.
Small on purpose
Why we don't call it a donation
Because it isn't one. Nobody's collecting funds and nothing goes into a pot somewhere.
It's one person leaving something for one other person. The whole reason it works is that it stays that small.
Kindness doesn't have to be complicated.
From wherever you are
You can leave one behind without being here.
Some people want to put a sleeve on the wall but don't live near New Westminster. So there's a link for that — send your message with it and we'll write it out for you.
To be completely straight with you: You N Me' is a for-profit social enterprise, not a registered charity. This isn't a donation and there's no tax receipt. You're buying one specific thing for one specific stranger. We think it's better that way.
Not switched on yet. Create a free Stripe payment link (or PayPal link), paste it into your dashboard under Pages → Pay It Forward, and this button appears. The money lands in your bank account. No monthly fee — Stripe takes roughly 2.9% + 30¢.
On the wall right now
Numbers go here once you've counted them
Next time you're in, write one.
It costs a couple of dollars and about thirty seconds. Somebody is going to read it on a day you'll never know about.