90 cafes of the capital invite seniors for a free cup of coffee and tea on Sundays

In the eve of the most beautiful winter holidays, seniors are invited to enjoy a warm and friendly campaign “Let’s meet for a cup of coffee” held for the 19^th year in the capital. A record-high number of businesses responded to the municipality’s invitation to join the beautiful initiative and serve seniors coffee or tea – as many as 90 cafes, restaurants, hotels and bakeries will welcome seniors from 24 November till 5 January, inviting them to spend Sunday afternoons chatting over a cup of coffee or tea.

On the first Sunday of the campaign, the Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius met with seniors at Bacchus restaurant in Antakalnis. Seniors from Atgaiva day care center, male choir Varpas and other senior residents of Vilnius joined the event.

“Each year, an increasing number of seniors and more and more cafes join this campaign of kindness sharing their warmth with everyone. Coffee is a symbol of communication, meetings, exploring the city and discovering new places. I invite senior residents to participate, ride and walk around the city, to get to know it and to interact with each other”, the Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius said greeting seniors in his welcome speech.

Alfredas Basevičius, President of the male choir Varpas, said that seniors singing in the choir have one goal: not only pursue the heights of choral art, promote the work of Lithuanian composers and choral singing, but also take advantage of a great opportunity to meet with their peers.

“It is always lots of fun to meet peers for a cup of coffee or tea and share the news. We do this quite often, because rehearsals of the male choir take place twice per week, and we have one concert per month. After our rehearsals or performances, we like to sit down for a cup of coffee or tea. And we have done this for 64 years now. This campaign is a great opportunity for us to get out of the house, getting away from TV sets or reading newspaper, for a pleasant and warm conversation”, says Alfredas Basevičius, President of the male choir Varpas.

This year, most cafes and restaurants traditionally welcome seniors on Sundays. Several restaurants in the capital will offer free coffee to seniors on other days of the week: coffee shop “Coffee1” located at Užupio g. 9 will welcome seniors for a cup of delicious coffee or tea Tuesday through Thursday, 2 to 3 p.m. The café “Pirmas Blynas” located at Konstitucijos pr. 12A will serve coffee or tea on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., while “Šeimos Restoranėlis” in Paupio g. 5 will offer coffee or tea on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m.

The restaurant “Amatininkų Užeiga” will welcome seniors every Sunday till the 23^rd of December, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“We are very happy to have joined this beautiful campaign for senior residents. Obviously, they like this campaign a lot – they are happy to get together, to socialize and to have a cup of coffee. They love meeting and chatting with other seniors. So we sincerely invite senior residents to visit our restaurant and have a cup of delicious coffee or tea”, said Tomas Prieskienis, manager of “Bacchus” and “One for All” restaurants.

All senior residents of the city will be able to get a free cup of coffee or tea in cafes and restaurants having presented their seniors card. The following restaurants have joined the 19^th kindness campaign “Let’s meet for a cup of coffee”: restaurant “Agotos Gryčia”, restaurant “Amatininkų Užeiga”, restaurant “Bacchus”, café “Backstage Café”, café “Bali Wood”, restaurant “Balzac”, café “Beigelistai”, restaurants “Brooklyn Brothers”, cafes “Caif Café”, restaurants “CanCan Pizza”, restaurants “Charlie Pizza”, café “Coffee1”, restaurant “Cozy”, bakery “Crustum”, restaurant “Daily”, restaurants “Etno Dvaras”, cafes “Formosa”, restaurants “Fortas” , restaurant “Grey”, restaurants “Jurgis ir Drakonas”, restaurant “Kinza”, restaurant “Kitchen”, restaurant “Mano Guru”, restaurant “Marceliukės Klėtis”, restaurant „Meat Lovers Pub“, café “Mint Vinetu”, store “Nuts About”, restaurant “One for All”, café “Piestro”, café “Pirmas Blynas”, vegetarian restaurant “Radharanė”, cafe “Raštinė”, restaurant “Senatoriai”, restaurant (bakery) “Sugamour”, bakery “Sucré”, café “Sushi Boutique”, restaurants “Sushi City”, restaurant “Šeimos Restoranėlis”, cafes “Taste Map”, restaurant “Žuvinė”, hotel “Comfort Hotel LT”, hotel “Green Vilnius Hotel”, hotel “Green Park Hotel”, hotel “Karolina Park Hotel” (lobby bar) and hotel “Žemaitė”.

Last year 85 institutions of Vilnius served free coffee and tea to senior residents, giving away more than 8 000 cups of coffee or tea in six weeks.

Marketing and Communication Division, vrt@vilnius.lt