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Ahoy there, dear coffee lovers!

As some of you may or may not know, October 1st happens to be one of the biggest celebrations in any coffee lover's calendar, because today we celebrate International Coffee Day, 2024.

As of March 2014, when the members of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) first decreed it, October 1st has been a day of celebration for caffeine fans across the globe. So, what does that mean for us this year?
According to the ICO, this year's International Coffee Day theme is collaboration.

Coffee plays such a significant role in our daily rituals, but often it takes the role of the unsung hero. We often forget to give it the appreciation it deserves for keeping us awake, alert, and (let's face it) sane through our daily tribulations.

Coffee—farms, farmers, coffee shops, or the beverage itself—brings us together, with our friends and family, with potential love interests, and even occasionally with strangers.

So today, we thought we'd switch that up a bit. We thought we would announce... a CONTEST!

For this contest, we want to see how coffee brings you together with a stranger. Not a loved one, not a member of your family, not a date. Someone you genuinely don't know. This could also be a coffee farmer or someone in the coffee production business. To do that, we've outlined some options:

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Choice 1:
While visiting your favourite coffee house, invite collaboration into your life by buying a stranger a coffee. It's simple, it's fairly inexpensive. You can turn to the person behind you and explain you're buying someone a coffee today - what would they like? You can even buy your barista a coffee if you feel like it. The point is, to buy a stranger a cup of coffee. Collaborate in making both your day and theirs a little brighter. Then tell us about it!

Choice 2:
Write a note about the influences coffee has in your life. This can be a random compliment, or you could go a little deeper. Maybe you write a letter you'd never dare to send. Maybe it's telling someone a secret you feel you can't share in your real life. Maybe it's a random message of kindness and positivity that you wish to send out into the world. Next, go into your favourite coffeehouse and leave the note somewhere for a stranger to find it. Sometimes, the nicest way to collaborate is by sharing our deepest feelings with another human being. Of course, tell us about it.

OR
Choice 3:
You can, if you wish, combine the two options. You can buy someone a coffee and give them your note. Ask them only to read it after you've gone if you like. Take this opportunity to share and genuinely connect with a fellow human being on this earth. Someone you don't know and who doesn't already feature in your life.

How does that sound?

`Please indicate which option you are responding to.`

Recap

We want you to:
A. Buy a random stranger a cup of coffee;
or
B. Write a note about the influences coffee has in your life, for a random stranger and leave it in a coffeehouse for them to find it;
or
C. You can, again, do both if you want.

When

Ideally, try to carry this out on October 1st, since that's when we celebrate International Coffee Day. However, we understand not everyone will be able to get it done in 24 hours, so our contest will run from October 1st 00.00 UTC to the evening of October 5th (6 PM UTC Oct. 5th). Any late entries will be disqualified.

What will I win?

While we'd love nothing better than to be able to buy you all a cup of coffee in real life, the best we can offer is HIVE so you can buy your own coffee (and hopefully tell us about it!).

GRAND TOTAL 60 HIVE

1st place: 25 Hive
2nd place: 15 Hive
3rd place: 10 Hive
Finalist 1: 2.5 Hive
Finalist 2: 2.5 Hive
Finalist 3: 2.5 Hive
Finalist 4: 2.5 Hive

Participation Rules

Post directly to the Cinnamon Cup Coffee community;
Use the first tag #internationalcoffeeday;
300 words minimum, English ONLY;
Add 3 or more different original pictures (your pictures, not sourced from the Internet);
No plagiarism, no AI, and no recycled text or images;
Reblog the contest announcement (this post) so that more people can join;
Adhere to general community rules;