Pittsburgh • Over the weekend, patrons of a Pittsburgh neighborhood coffee shop received free coffee from families in Connecticut who were also impacted by a deadly shooting.
Commonplace Coffee in Squirrel Hill says it received a $650 donation from a group of family and alumni at the Fraser Woods Montessori School in Newtown. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Kathy Craughwell-Varda, who raised the funds, says she remembers the terror she felt during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and wanted to let Squirrel Hill residents know people around the country were thinking of them.
Craughwell-Varda says more will be needed in days ahead for the city still reeling from the Oct. 27 rampage that left 11 people dead at the Tree of Life synagogue. Craughwell-Varda says small gestures like buying coffee matter.