

The notion of paying it forward just got even easier thanks to the work of Aspley’s Cup from Above. The cafe is offering Tucker Tokens – where customers can pre-purchase a meal for the city’s homeless.
by Andrea Macleod
ASPLEY’s community cafe Cup from Above is bringing new meaning to the joy of a meal shared.
Cafe owner Adam James said by purchasing a Tucker Token, customers could help to change the lives of those who were struggling to find a meal, would go hungry or resort to stealing food.
Mr James said recent events in Brisbane’s CBD, that saw a man charged for begging in a public place “because he was hungry”, had spurred the cafe to raise the profile of the Tucker Tokens.
“We need cafes all over Brisbane, maybe even all over Australia and the world, to take on this collective responsibility,” Mr James said.
“The issue isn’t so much about food, as about being connected.”
Mr James said he was asking cafe owners to share the load.
“If we do this the burden won’t be too great for any one cafe,” he said.
Cafe patron Matt (surname withheld) said the Tucker Tokens were a great service.
“I wouldn’t be here without it,” he said.
Mr James said he hoped many cafes would join Cup from Above to “decentralise the burden and distribute the care and connection across Brisbane”.
Another patron Isakell Sydney said the Tucker Tokens had made “such a difference” to him.
Homeless statistics
– Each night in Brisbane, approximately 300 people sleep out on the street.
– 8.1 per cent of Queensland’s homeless population is indigenous.
– 16 per cent of homeless are children aged 12-18
– Queensland has the second highest homeless population in Australia.