Oxford Coffee Shop Pours Love for Young Man Who Lost Parents

The line at Cups pours out of the door. Photo by Jyesha Johnson.

Coffee was more than a drink at the local Cups after the hashtag “Coffee For DC” started to circulate around Twitter with more than 200 retweets. The coffee shop decided to lend a helping hand to Dechristian Cummings (DC) after he suddenly lost both of his parents.

Many came out in support of DC. In fact, it was so many that it caught the general manager for Cups, Matt Mahaffey, off guard.

“Whenever it started at 7 a.m. I was surprised,” Mahaffey said. “But I wasn’t surprised by the amount of how many people cared. Once it started it just didn’t stop.”

A long line of people poured out of Cups’ front door. Some of them knew DC personally while others were simply there just to show their support.

A childhood friend of DC’s was one of the many who stood in the long line.

“It’s just amazing to me because I did know him,” Ty Benson said. “And I know his mom and everything, so I just think it is amazing that everyone is coming together and that can do all this for him.”

Cummings formed a relationship with one of the owners of Cups, Brian Spilman. The two met during a Christian ministry, and Coffee For DC was Spilman’s way of helping Cummings out during a difficult time.

Mahaffey said he understands that losing two parents so suddenly is really hard. He also wants DC to know that he will forever have a family in them.

“We here at Cups, and the people of Oxford, really just want to gather around him and [let him] know that we support him.”

Produced by: Paris Payne and Jyesha Johnson.