TOVA Coffeehouse gives all of their income to local charities. They opened two weeks ago and want to make it their goal to not only give, but to teach people how to do the same thing.
TOVA is a verb, meaning to do good.
“It’s a verb, an action, and there’s lots of ways to do good,” Aaron Dawson, TOVA Coffeehouse president, said. “For us, that specifically means loving the unloved, and unseen and unheard in our community.”
For two friends, owning a coffee shop is their dream, but their biggest goal is to help others.
“It kind of melded two passions of mine, between things that I’ve been doing in my past community development-wise, and my love for coffee and the coffee world,” said Chris White, general manager at TOVA Coffeehouse.
Dawson and White said a 100-percent nonprofit coffee shop took time to start.
“You develop a business plan and hope it’s feasible, and if we get enough customer traffic, and things are going really well so far,” Dawson said. “Lubbock has been really responsive, it won’t be too long before we have profits to share.”
The funds go to local charities, Dawson said.
“Our profits go to those on the margins, that includes foster care, family preservation, recovering addicts or current addicts, special needs, elderly,” Dawson said.
However, bringing people together is their ultimate goal.
“Connection is really the biggest thing for us,” White said. “Connecting people to the broader needs in our community and finding ways to work together to make it a better place.”
TOVA Coffeehouse is located at 6023 82nd St. Suite 1.
