Bitty and Beau’s coffee shop just marked its first anniversary and a recent hire is celebrating his job in a big way.
The coffee shop in Melrose, Massachusetts, hires locals with intellectual disabilities and its team of more than 30 members is growing, CBS Boston reported Thursday.
Team member Joe Sullivan recently earned his first paycheck and his reaction, caught on camera, was full of joy.
The clip showed the young man jumping up and down as people inside the shop clapped in praise of his hard work.
“Hold up the paycheck, Joe!” one person told him. He then lifted it into the air with a huge smile on his face, knowing he had accomplished something big:
“Way to go, Joe! I remember that first check feeling!!” one social media user replied, while another said, “I am so happy for him!! He is happy to earn his own money and Bitty & Beau’s gave him that opportunity!”
According to the coffee shop’s website, the Wright family dedicated their time and effort to making the world a better place for their own children and other individuals with disabilities.
Amy and Ben Wright have four children, whose names are Lillie, Emma Grace, Beau, and Bitty. Lillie has autism while Bitty and Beau were born with Down syndrome.
The Wrights believe the coffee shop made a way “for people with disabilities to become more valued, accepted and included in every community.”
Video footage from 2016 shows the coffee shop’s employees in Wilmington, North Carolina, working hard and making their customers smile:
Meanwhile, Joe’s mother Tonya beamed with pride watching her son accept his first paycheck. She said her heart was full each time she left the coffee shop.
“A lot of times I say you might not be able to change the whole world, but we can change our world, right? That’s what he’s doing. One coffee at a time,” Tonya commented.