Here’s a story that represents everything Suspended Coffees is about.
A Facebook group was created by a man called Robbie, to try and gather enough pledges of money to buy his girlfriend Karen, a brand new digital camera. This wasn’t any old camera, it was her dream one, the Canon 5D Mark III.
His selfless idea soon started a rolling chain of events, inspired by love, across their home city of Cork in the Republic of Ireland.
Over €1,000 was raised through the group, without Karen’s knowledge, but sadly this wasn’t enough to buy the camera which cost around €2,000.
However, with time running out to raise the funds that were needed, a mystery person magically sent a package to Karen’s work.
She didn’t know what was going on, so imagine her bemusement and shock when she opened the box to find her much dreamed about camera inside, just for her.
Immediately she phoned Robbie and, in tears of bewilderment and joy, told him what was inside the box. He was then forced to tell her what had been going on.
She was over the moon, as you can imagine, unable to comprehend that so many people would come together for her in such a wonderful way.
Her friends responded beautifully, and suddenly ‘Help Portraits’ was born.
Karen thought about how she could repay the kind thoughts and deeds of so many people and, while a lot of us would have simply carried on and used their new camera for themselves, Karen set to work organising a massive event called ‘Help Portraits’.
She worked tirelessly recruiting volunteers to bring this all together.
The idea behind ‘Help Portraits’ is that people come and have their picture taken in order to make them feel special. There were hairdressers, make up artists, sumo suits, photographers, food, activities for kids and much more.
She managed to have it advertised on the radio and in the newspapers, with Cork’s largest radio station covering the event live as a horde of people, families, singles, siblings and friends descended, to feel special for a day.
It was a wonderful way to repay the kindness shown by her friends, her mystery camera donor and, above all, her boyfriend Robbie who started the whole thing off in the first place. Karen carried it on, and everyone who attended had a magical day.
Karen is a fabulous person who is always there for people, no matter what. She also has a catchphrase that she says like a mantra and that is ‘Love Love Love’
No matter what is going on in life, we can all learn from this attitude, we can all avail of these words just by saying them in our heads. So next time you are feeling down, or are a little lost, think about the power of positive thinking and repeat after me……LOVE LOVE LOVE
Here is the incredible video of the days events, put together by Karen and the amazingly talented, James of Lamp that production