Random acts of kindness in honor of Claremore man sparks hundreds of dollars in coffee donations

CLAREMORE, Okla. — A random act of kindness in honor of a Claremore man sparked hundreds of dollars at a local Dutch Bros.

Karen Walden, a local woman who wanted to honor her late brother, Todd Brown as what would’ve been his 52nd birthday approached. She went to a Dutch Bros in Claremore and donated $100 for people to purchase coffee.

“I wanted to do something to cheer myself up and … so I said, ‘well, I’ll just run up to the coffee shop, buy $100 worth of coffee.’ And we’ll just have a better day.”

Brown died in a car crash in Ramona, Okla., in 2020. Walden said he loved helping others, so the act of kindness was fitting to honor her brother.

“He loved random acts of kindness,” she said. “He loved to help people. He always went the extra mile.”

She posted it online, and people were touched by her generosity and the reason behind it. Other people on social media started donating money, and she raised $500 for customers at Dutch Bros.

While receiving their coffees, other customers in line started to pay the kindness forward. By the end of the day, people gave $700 in honor of Walden’s brother.

“I was shocked,” she said. “Because you hear of people doing a five or six cars back [in a drive thru], but for it to go on and on and on.”

Samuel Craven works for Dutch Bros, and he told FOX23 that $700 was unbelievable.

“The customers and the baristas were pretty emotional,” Craven said. “I know the girl who took the order. She really got her heartstrings stuck, you know? She started to tear up.”

He continued, “She really felt it as well as a lot of the crew. The customers were super happy.”

Christina Fontana went to the Dutch Bros to buy eight drinks for Hillcrest’s labor and deliver department in Claremore. She said they were blown away by the gesture and Brown’s story.

Walden said it’s amazing to see the love that the community has shown.

“Todd would have been dancing in the street. He would have been high-fiving everyone coming through,” she said.

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